The type of film my good friend the Professor calls a "necromance". A touching, but never sentimental little love story produced by, among others, Ron Howard and his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, "Restless" is beautifully costumed, designed and photographed (Harris Savides), and gently, expertly steered by Gus Van Sant. Set in Portland - which feels like a character in this film. Nice score by Danny Elfman too.
Love and loss loom large in the story of Enoch Brae (Henry - son of Dennis - Hopper), a lonely teenager haunted not only by the death of his parents in a car crash, but also that they were buried while he was in a coma. So he never had closure. He lives with Mabel (Jane Adams: his bedraggled but caring Aunt who bemoans the fact that Enoch calls him Mabel rather than Auntie) and no longer attends school after being expelled for beating up someone who dissed his deceased parents. So he spends his days attending the funerals of strangers and chatting with his imaginary friend Hiroshi (Ryo Kase) - the ghost of a WWII Kamikaze pilot.
One day he meets a beautiful, free spirited young girl named Annabel Cotton (Mia Wasikowska) at a funeral. She loves birds and the great outdoors, the two become friends and fall in love while sharing their secrets. Annebel, however, is dying of cancer and has only a few short months to live.
"Restless" probably won't work for everyone, but it charmed and moved me and it it is still floating gently around in my head a week after watching it. Jane Adams' straggly hairstyle is worth the price of admission alone, and the marvelous Mia Wasikowska (whose wonderful offbeat outfits are a credit to Oscar nominated costume designer Danny Glicker) is terrific as Annabel. Ms Wasikowska is rapidly becoming one of my favorite young actresses.
Ron Howard is one of the most successful mainstream directors in America and the lovely Bryce Dallas Howard is, after appearing with distinction in "Hereafter", " 50/50" and the box office hits "The Help" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" - a successful young actress on the cusp of major stardom, yet they find the time to make a small, relatively low budget ($8 million) non commercial film like this happen. Kudos to them.
