Causeway

This movie was fantastic . I loved it . It's a slow burn , the characters feel real and the pain they feel is acted incredibly well . The dialogue felt totally natural and all the relationships were so dynamic and important to the story .

This isn't the kind of film you can watch while scrolling social media - it's meant to be felt and observed and that means giving it your full attention as movies should be . You miss way too much of the subtlety if you aren't willing to put your phone down for an hour and a half .

The dynamic between the two main characters is obviously well done and the "chemistry " felt real and refreshing . Some other highlights were the relationship between Lindsey and her mom , Lindsey and her brother and james and his employees .

Lindsey and her mom showed the complexities of mother - daughter relationships. The mom isn't necessarily a bad person but has never dealt with her own trauma or self confidence issues and it bleeds down and is obvious in the interactions . The scene in the jail with her brother was so powerful and well done- great acting by Lawrence and Harvard . James is a well loved guy and you can feel it - in spite of a hard past - a good man .

I read an article once about Jennifer Lawrence after she was in "winters bone " and then being asked to play Katniss - her real dream was to do indie , diverse characters and not be type casted or forever known as katniss Everdeen . She has done a ton since then - but this is probably her best work.

Watch it , appreciate it and you won't regret your 90 min .

Causeway is a decent drama backed by great performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry. Lila Neugebauer's debut feature is a quiet moving drama which slowly shows a soldiers recovery from a brain injury.

Jennifer Lawrence wisely chooses a smaller production here, taking a break from big budget affair like Hunger Games & especially X-Men (The X-Men series ended up a noose round Lawrence's neck after the great First Class & Days Of Future Past).

Brian Tyree Henry continues his rise here and does well in a more serious role than usually expected from him. After Bullet Train, he's had a fairly successful year.

Hopefully Jennifer Lawrence will stick to more independent efforts like this and Winter's Bone as that's where her talents are definitely more suited.

I don't know if Causeway will be talked about during the Oscar season, but I thought the film was pretty solid. It's a slow examination of PTSD & the frustrating process of rehabilitation with strong performances from Jennifer Lawrence & Brian Tyree Henry at its core, their dynamic is what made the movie work for me even though it can be a tough watch at times considering the nature of the subject.

Jennifer Lawrence's character suffers from an incident in Afghanistan and she still has to deal with the repercussions now that she's back home, a place that she doesn't necessarily like to be. It's mostly a quiet film but it has some strong moments of emotions, especially towards the end where I felt like they did a good job making us care about the characters. The people in this movie felt very natural and that's just good casting & acting. A good reminder that Jennifer Lawrence can act.

The relationship between Jennifer Lawrence's character (Lynsey) and her family & friends is what drives this film. She has some work to do on her physical & mental health and we witness her journey as she tries to adjust to her new life. The bond she builds with Brian Tyree Henry is heartfelt as they share a similar trauma and are trying to help each other. It's not something I would be willing to watch again in the near future, it's a heavy subject, but at least there's some light in there to give us hope and make us appreciate the material.

7/10.

But I enjoyed it. It's pace is studied. There's a tenderness to the way the story unfolds. Lawrence plays it straight if somewhat somber in her delivery. And I think this sets the tone all the way through the movie. There's very little deviation from the baseline of her recovery.

Brian Tyree Henry seems to hit on the same frequency. But the chemistry between him and Lawrence is real. The dialogue is slack and natural. A wonderful study in character that charmed me from the beginning.

I appreciate movies like this with no pretension or great overarching theme. It's a simple human film about two shattered lives that find some solace between them. I loved it for that; for all the things that's it's missing. What remains is a beautiful story.

Yes this is another vehicle for JenLaw to show off her ample assets. She is reserved and nuanced here and allows Brian Tyree Henry to steal nearly every scene that they share.

BTH is a revelation here. He is a large man that delivers a simmering and sometimes explosive performance and does it with an understated strength. I hope that Hollywood is paying attention and gets him some higher profile roles.

While this material seems somewhat familiar, the female lead makes for a different turn on the whole vet returning from war genre.

Coming in at a tight just over 90 minutes, this one is well worth a look.