Restless
Gus Van Sant's new film will leave you restlessly waiting for the end.
Gus Van Sant (USA, Masters)
SCREENINGS:
Thursday, September 8, 9 p.m.
Ryerson (43 Gerrard Street East)
Friday, September 9, 4 p.m.
TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 (350 King Street West)
In an ideal world one wouldn’t have to review Gus Van Sant’s Restless, but rather create online dating profiles for his two main characters, Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) and Enoch (Henry Hopper). These two might search for compatibility based on enjoying long walks in cemeteries, dressing like a 1940s Vogue cover shoot, and perfectly perching on benches to discuss different types of birds by their Latin names. But most importantly: they both would have to love death. This is because Enoch lost his parents in a car crash and Annabel, we soon discover, is dying of cancer. After meeting at a memorial service that Enoch crashes (one of his quirky habits), the two fall in love. The kind of love that involves biking on dirt roads, playing the xylophone, and losing their (presumed) virginity to each other after frolicking in the woods on Halloween night in the world’s cleanest shack.
Twee and precious, Restless might be trying to say something about how we deal with loss and love but its romanticization of both subjects quickly becomes tiring. The one happily predictable aspect of the film is Wasikowska’s performance as Annabel. Even bogged down with distractingly silly costumes and ridiculous dialogue she manages to bring something to the film (and this is despite the fact she is playing the thankless part of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, destined to die to broaden her lover’s view of the world). As you leave the theatre it wouldn’t be surprising to let out a dramatic sigh and recall when Van Sant used to make movies about teens like My Own Private Idaho.