Film Review: I'll Come Running
Venue: Los Angeles Film Festival.Some of the most provocative recent films, including “Babel, ” “The Visitor, ” and “The Edge of Heaven, ” have dramatized encounters of people from different cultures. While these films frequently focus on the tragic consequences of such culture clashes, they remind us that we live in a shrinking world where interdependence is crucial. The latest movie to bring this theme into focus, “I'll Come Running, ” has its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. While not as seamless as some of those earlier movies, it's an affecting drama of people from different nationalities trying to bridge the gulf that divides them.
“Running” begins with a group of Danish tourists visiting the Alamo and deriding the alien universe of Texas. Enjoying a night on the town in nearby Austin, Pelle (Jon Lange) hooks up with Veronica (Melonie Diaz). A one-night stand leads to a more serious infatuation, but Pelle is set to return to Denmark. An unexpected accident throws everything into turmoil and leads Veronica to travel to Denmark. There she meets Pelle's best friend and family. All of these characters are profoundly changed by a chance encounter that started on a dance floor in Texas.
Diaz (“Raising Victor Vargas, ” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) holds the film together. The role allows her to demonstrate toughness as well as curiosity about all the heartbreaking surprises that life has in store for us. Lange and Christian Tafdrup as Pelle's best friend both bring the requisite magnetism to their roles. There are times when the budgetary limitations hurt the film; some crucial dramatic moments take place offscreen. Still, cinematographer Siobhan Walshe captures the contrasts in the two worlds that Veronica navigates. The open-ended conclusion is honest but somehow less than fully satisfying, and the film as a whole must be considered a flawed but compelling foray into cross-cultural confusion.
Cast: Melonie Diaz, Jon Lange, Christian Tafdrup, Birgitte Raaberg, Hallie Bulleit, Mads Norby. Director: Spencer Parsons. Screenwriters: Line Langebek Knudsen, Spencer Parsons. Executive producers: Thomas Lydholm, Rajen Savjani, Jesper Zartov. Producers: Lars Knudsen, Anish Savjani, Jay Van Hoy. Director of photography: Siobhan Walshe. Production designer: Elliott Hostetler. Music: Graham Reynolds. Costume designer: Caroline Karlen. Editor: David Fabelo. Production companies: Film Science, Van Hoy/Knudsen Productions.
No MPAA rating, 112 minutes.
“Running” begins with a group of Danish tourists visiting the Alamo and deriding the alien universe of Texas. Enjoying a night on the town in nearby Austin, Pelle (Jon Lange) hooks up with Veronica (Melonie Diaz). A one-night stand leads to a more serious infatuation, but Pelle is set to return to Denmark. An unexpected accident throws everything into turmoil and leads Veronica to travel to Denmark. There she meets Pelle's best friend and family. All of these characters are profoundly changed by a chance encounter that started on a dance floor in Texas.
Diaz (“Raising Victor Vargas, ” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) holds the film together. The role allows her to demonstrate toughness as well as curiosity about all the heartbreaking surprises that life has in store for us. Lange and Christian Tafdrup as Pelle's best friend both bring the requisite magnetism to their roles. There are times when the budgetary limitations hurt the film; some crucial dramatic moments take place offscreen. Still, cinematographer Siobhan Walshe captures the contrasts in the two worlds that Veronica navigates. The open-ended conclusion is honest but somehow less than fully satisfying, and the film as a whole must be considered a flawed but compelling foray into cross-cultural confusion.
Cast: Melonie Diaz, Jon Lange, Christian Tafdrup, Birgitte Raaberg, Hallie Bulleit, Mads Norby. Director: Spencer Parsons. Screenwriters: Line Langebek Knudsen, Spencer Parsons. Executive producers: Thomas Lydholm, Rajen Savjani, Jesper Zartov. Producers: Lars Knudsen, Anish Savjani, Jay Van Hoy. Director of photography: Siobhan Walshe. Production designer: Elliott Hostetler. Music: Graham Reynolds. Costume designer: Caroline Karlen. Editor: David Fabelo. Production companies: Film Science, Van Hoy/Knudsen Productions.
No MPAA rating, 112 minutes.
- 6/20/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film Review: Wendy and Lucy
Cannes, Un Certain RegardMichelle Williams does her best but she cannot prevent Kelly Reichardt's "Wendy and Lucy", a weak tale about being broke and on the road in rural America, from dwindling into boredom. Prospects for box office or even television and DVD success appear slim.
Wendy (Williams) is a young woman traveling from Indiana to Alaska in search of work who is so devoid of resourcefulness that it's a wonder she's made it to Oregon. Counting pennies and sleeping in her beat-up car, her only company is a mutt named Lucy.
A clumsy attempt at shoplifting results in a day wasted dealing with the local police and in the meantime Lucy goes missing. The rest of the film follows Wendy's attempts to find the lost pup.
The screenplay by Reichardt and Jon Raymond invites sympathy for a not very bright individual who does stupid things and is then resentful when petty misdemeanors generate stern responses. The film is also a rather puny rebuke to those who think a classic American adventure is to hit the road without a penny in your pocket but with a doughty pooch by your side.
CAST: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Walter Dalton. DIRECTOR: Kelly Reichardt. SCREENWRITERS: Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond. PRODUCERS: Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Larry Fessenden. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Sam Levy. EDITOR: Kelly Reichardt. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Todd Haynes, Phil Morrison, Rajen Savjani, Joshua Blum. SALES AGENT: Memento Films International. No MPAA rating, running time 80 mins.
Wendy (Williams) is a young woman traveling from Indiana to Alaska in search of work who is so devoid of resourcefulness that it's a wonder she's made it to Oregon. Counting pennies and sleeping in her beat-up car, her only company is a mutt named Lucy.
A clumsy attempt at shoplifting results in a day wasted dealing with the local police and in the meantime Lucy goes missing. The rest of the film follows Wendy's attempts to find the lost pup.
The screenplay by Reichardt and Jon Raymond invites sympathy for a not very bright individual who does stupid things and is then resentful when petty misdemeanors generate stern responses. The film is also a rather puny rebuke to those who think a classic American adventure is to hit the road without a penny in your pocket but with a doughty pooch by your side.
CAST: Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Walter Dalton. DIRECTOR: Kelly Reichardt. SCREENWRITERS: Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond. PRODUCERS: Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Larry Fessenden. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Sam Levy. EDITOR: Kelly Reichardt. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Todd Haynes, Phil Morrison, Rajen Savjani, Joshua Blum. SALES AGENT: Memento Films International. No MPAA rating, running time 80 mins.
- 5/27/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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