Restless

Gus Van Sant probably understands the minds of youngsters better than any director around and he proves it again in this rhapsodic film about loss and love and loss again. His cast is so well selected that they seem to be an ensemble from a stage company, so well integrated are their relationships in this beautiful film written by Jason Lew.

Enoch Brae (Henry Hopper, son of Dennis Hopper, and a very fine actor) survived a car accident in which his parents were killed: he remained in a coma and missed their funeral and the chance to in some way say goodbye. Living with his Aunt Mabel (Jane Adams), he now spends his days not attending school but instead going to strangers' funerals. One funeral organizer (Christopher D. Harder) notices his repeated appearances and tries to have him arrested for trespassing but he is saved by a strange girl named Annabel (Mia Wasikowska in a brilliant performance). Annabel also attends funerals: she tells Enoch that she works with children with cancer at a hospital. Enoch is wary of making friends - his only ally being a Japanese kamikaze pilot ghost Hiroshi Takahashi (Ryo Kase) with whom he talks about everything. But gradually Enoch and Annabel bond and Annabel reveals to Enoch that she doesn't work with 'cancer kids', she is one - she has brain cancer and is on short-term time. Annabel's sister Elizabeth (Schyler Fisk) and mother Rachel (Luisa Strus) accept Enoch's growing supportive love for Annabel. As Enoch grows form his experience with Annabel he no longer needs the presence of his ghost or his need for attending funerals and instead spends his time giving Annabel the best three months (remaining) of her life. How the story draws to an end is so enchanting that to share it would deprive the viewer of the magic of this film.

This is one of those perfect little films that glow in the heart. Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper create such memorable characters that once seen they will never be forgotten. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

It is pleasant to watch movies in which sad and tragic events are not depicted in a depressive and gray manner, and the characters are able to enjoy the current day. Restless is one of those movies, and despite the sad background, the viewers can follow different undertakings of the lead characters, their joys, worries and moods. The ending scene is settled in an interesting way as well.

Henry Hopper as Enoch Brae and Mia Wasikowska as Annabel Cotton are good and credible; both of them could be used more in non-mainstream movies. Hiroshi Takahashi (Ryō Kase) is an interesting finding, providing additional dimension to this otherwise linear movie.

The movie is definitely for you if you are not ultra-conservative and/or have fresh respective experiences. You have a possibility to enjoy something different and ponder whether your own life is as bad as it may often seem...

Restless tells the story of two controversial -but somehow the same- teenage characters and their perspectives of dealing with death. Enoch (Henry Hopper) has dropped out school and tries to cope and face his fears by attending funerals. That's how he meets Annabel (Mia Wasikowska), a girl with a terminal disease and a love for life and nature. There's also the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze Hiroshi (Ryo Kase), from WWII and it seems that he is a story inside the story of this film. Sometimes you may think that his part is unnecessary in the plot, although, in the end it turns out that he wasn't so much irrelevant after all.

The film is not as morbid as you might think. There won't be any moment where your heart will feel heavy. Every scene is a walk-through towards realization and the art of getting familiar with the absolute fact such as death and the importance of love and the "now" moment.

The photography is soft and atmospheric and so is the music. Keep in mind that the director (Gus Van Sant) is the one who also directed Good Will Hunting, a brilliant movie. I first saw Mia Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland, then in Jane Eyre and i believe she's one of the many talented young actresses that'll stand out in the industry. Henry Hopper on the other hand is the son of the late -and great- Dennis Hopper. His filmography is still in its early stages but he seems very promising.

Enoch Brae (Henry Hopper) is a morbid teenager that enjoys attending funerals. He meets the teenager Annabel Cotton (Mia Wasikowska) in a memorial service and they start to see each other. Enoch has lost his parents in a car accident and lives with his aunt Mabel (Jane Adams). His best and only friend is the ghost of the Japanese kamikaze pilot Hiroshi Takahashi (Ryo Kase) and Enoch neither goes to school nor has a car. Annabel is terminal with brain tumor and lives with her sister Elizabeth (Schuyler Fisk) and her mother Rachel (Lusia Strus). She loves to read about birds, especially the water birds. Soon the unlikely couple falls in love with each other improving their lives.

"Restless" is a beautiful, romantic and sad movie about love, life and death. Enoch Brae recalls Harold, from "Harold and Maude", a teenager with a trauma attracted by memorial services. Mia Wasikowska is wonderful in the role of the sweet Annabel, a teenager terminally ill that loves life. The story is sensitive and their romance is heartbreaking. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Inquietos" ("Restless")

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.