How did that happen? I wish I would say the opening piqued my curiosity. It did not. The film creates these showy checkpoints for the plot to be assessed favourably. But the ruse doesn’t work. This drama has an empty soul which no amount of soulful posturing can conceal.
There is some good acting here, though. Donal Logue as the alcoholic drifter strikes the right notes, though he is nowhere near to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, the film that I was repeatedly reminded of while watching Sam getting attached to Kate (Kate Walsh). She is one of those independent-minded middleaged women that we see in small towns in American films. Filled with righteous pride and not willing to compromise with her conscience Kate is antidote to Sam’s decadence. Kate operates a motel where Sam pitches his tired self. The mutual attraction is not quite as apparent as it should be.
Then halfway through the film Sam begins bonding with his long-estranged daughter Audrey (Trieste Kelly Dunne). Apparently he had sneaked into this beachside town only so that he could catch up with a daughter whom he had abandoned.So much for being a washed-up wash-out. The father-daughter scenes are effective but way too sparse. There is more meat in Sam’s bonding with his little grand daughter.
Finally, though, no relationship in this vaguely stirring plot is given a chance to grow. We are left with a film as adrift as its protagonist. The New England setting is idyllic and some moments in the drama seem genuine. But the film on whole is coldhearted and uninviting.
Image Source: Instagram/diego.aguirre.actor/triestekdunn