Woman on a quest sinks further into lunacy… and so will most viewers after sitting through this film
Director: Kevin Bacon
Screenplay by: Hannah Shakespeare
Cinematography: Nancy Schreiber
Studio info: ThinkFilm, 86 mins.
Kyra Sedgwick is long overdue for a great starring role on the silver screen, but the misguided Loverboy is not her Mr. Right. Sedgwick plays Emily, an odd bird of a woman who seeks emotional salvation in motherhood but only drives herself deeper into madness. Sedgwick works hard, but her performance never coheres.
The movie, adapted from Valerie Redel’s award-winning book, wants to comment on the ties that blind. But first-time director Kevin Bacon—Sedgwick’s real-life husband—connects with his characters superficially at best, and the emotional wallop intended at the end feels more like a pinch to make sure you’re still awake. The casting, at least, is interesting. Matt Dillon plays a genial geologist, the underrated Blair Brown makes an appearance, and Sandra Bullock is a glamorous neighbor (it’s a stretch, but still). Bacon, far more surehanded as an actor, shows up in flashbacks as Emily’s dad, with the ever-bubbly Marisa Tomei playing her mom. Deeply in love, the couple spends all its time making googly eyes at each other and necking—it’s the closest thing to entertainment this movie has to offer.