Restless (2011)

Despite a dismal 35% (critics) /58% (audiences) on rottentomatoes, I liked a lot this story of odd teenagers in love and Jack said, "It wasn't hatable." Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) and Enoch (Henry Hopper) meet at a funeral and share, for different reasons, an obsession with death. Director Gus Van Sant (I liked Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Elephant (2003), and Paranoid Park (2007), and loved To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), Finding Forrester (2000), and Milk) keeps it light from a script by newcomer Jason Lew, who went to NYU with Bryce Dallas Howard. She convinced him to flesh out his play and she produced this movie along with her father Ron and Ron's producing partner Brian Grazer, among others. Wasikowska (pronounced vash-i-kov-ska, she is Australian) was believable as Alice in Wonderland with an English accent and as the strong-willed American daughter in The Kids Are All Right, and here is the strong-willed sick American girl in the fabulous vintage outfits. Costume designer Danny Glicker (Oscar-nominated for Milk, won a Costume Designers Guild award from his peers for Transamerica (2005), and was nominated for Milk and Up in the Air) may get another nomination for this one. Hopper is the 21-year-old son of the late Dennis Hopper, and Henry had one other role before this, at the age of 6. I hope he isn't too daunted by the bad reviews, for which few are faulting the acting anyway. Speaking of famous parents, Sissy Spacek's 29-year-old daughter Schuyler Fisk (The Babysitters Club (1995)) plays Annabel's custodial sister as brisk and overworked. The wonderful Jane Adams (my favorites: Happiness (1998), The Anniversary Party (2001), Little Children (2006), The Wackness, and just started another season of Hung) is under-used as Enoch's aunt.

Danny Elfman wrote the score and I can't find any clips for your enjoyment (other than that in the trailer and a loop on the site). I'm a huge fan of Elfman, including his four Oscar nominations (Men in Black (1997), Good Will Hunting (1997), Big Fish (2003), and Milk), as well as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), Back to School (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), To Die For (1995), Men in Black II (2002), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Spider-Man (2002, 04), Milk, Alice in Wonderland, and many more) and this is more understated than his usual splashy orchestral work.

We saw this ten days ago, just before it closed in our area, and the DVD release date hasn't yet been announced. Save it to your netflix queue it for the good acting, the cloudy Portland Oregon scenery, and Gus Van Sant.