Restless, starring Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper

Gus Van Sant is a director who frequently jumps between the mainstream and the experimental. For every Milk or Good Will Hunting, there's a Gerry or a Paranoid Park. To his credit, Van Sant can accomplish this seamlessly by fully committing to whichever style is best suited. There aren't many filmmakers who can flip a switch like that, although in general I've found his indie stuff to be far more compelling. Restless marks the rare occasion when Van Sant may have gotten his wires crossed. It's a film that works better the less odd it tries to be, finding narrative strength in the rather conventional love story at the core.

Just by the lead character's name along you know this a film aiming a bit too squarely for quirk. Enoch(newcomer Henry Hopper) is a guy who seems to have taken a break from the land of the living. He's obsessed with death, or at least everything that surrounds it. He crashes the funerals of people he doesn't know, and seems to have no friends. Well, let me take that back. There's the spirit of a Japanese WWII pilot named Hiroshi(Ryo Kase), his partner in throwing rocks at train cars and playing games of Battleship(which Hiroshi always wins). Yeah, Enoch's pretty screwy, and I haven't even begun on how the poor boy dresses.

Things start to look up when he meets a free spirited waif named Annabel(Mia Wasikowska). She doesn't seem to mind Enoch's weird sensibilities. She smiles at his funeral crashing. Doesn't run and hide like a normal woman would at the revelation of Enchoc's ghostly pal.  It must be love, and of course it is. She's perfect for him. There's just one problem. Annabel's dying of terminal cancer.

Movies about young love marred by the spectre of a fatal illness are nothing new, but rarely have they been done in such a disturbing way. It's meant to be darkly comedic, but far too often I found myself cringing as one happy moment or another was ruined by one morbid joke or another.

The story finds it's true footing as Annabel and Enoch begin to breakdown the emotional barriers each have put up. He's suffering what can be considered a form of survivor's guilt, tormenting himself by living a sheltered life. She wants to experience all that life has to offer, and desperately wants a partner to do it with.  The moments these two share together are the most honest and real. The chemistry between the always excellent Wasikowska and the untested newcomer Hopper is undeniable. I'll probably never say this again, but I wish this was just another one of those random teen romance stories. Shed all the capricious notions and macabre jokes and Restless could've been flawless. Instead it's merely watchable.

 Trav's Tip: Henry Hopper may be a newcomer, but he's been a part of the business for a long time. He's the son of legendary actor, Dennis Hopper. Henry made his acting debut as a child back in 1996. Restless marks his first role since.