Causeway

An observational drama on an injured soldier's return to a broken home. The subsequent recovery process through befriending another lost soul, and making family amends in this thought provoking drama that leaves it to the viewer's discretion...

There is no melodrama or hissy-fits about poor me from Jennifer Lawrence as Lynsey, downplaying the role to the point where you forget the actor and get caught up in the emotions of the character. And that goes to the whole cast, who played it in tune to the subdued thoughtful tone of the film.

There is no riveting story here, just performances that felt so real without being too loud. One for the film school...

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.

As you would expect from A24, a quiet, not overdramatised film. Jennifer Lawrence shines, especially in the small moments, like the scene with her brother. In addition to the two strong main characters, the story also features interestingly written supporting characters such as the mother or the brother, about whom we only learn fragments of news. The original soundtrack by Alex Somers is particularly well done, really outstanding, if not the best I have heard in a cinema film this year. The rest of the background music, which deviates from the original soundtrack, unfortunately feels out of place. Look and camerawork simple but effective. 7/10.

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.

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.