I rented "The Driftless Area" from a Redbox machine and admired the offbeat nature of this low-budget fantasy-thriller.
A very fine cast is assembled with such veteran actors as Frank Langella and Cirian Hinds. Zooey Deschanel is lovely as Stella, the principal supernatural character. And Anton Yelchin is perfect as the Everyman figure named Pierre.
The film's narrative starts on the premise of cause-and-effect action and how seemingly random occurrences have fateful consequences. At the heart of the drama is the arson that is committed on a farm house with the petty criminal unaware that the home was occupied by a young woman. The film builds from that experience with a quirky set of characters playing out a fantasy revenge and redemption story.
The directorial approach to the film could have been more creative in evoking the supernatural aura surrounding the character of Stella. It was not clear, for instance, how Stella could appear to Pierre both as a real-life character and as a vision of light. There were too many confusing moments that could have been imaginatively developed in an otherwise thoughtful and sensitive film idea.
A very fine cast is assembled with such veteran actors as Frank Langella and Cirian Hinds. Zooey Deschanel is lovely as Stella, the principal supernatural character. And Anton Yelchin is perfect as the Everyman figure named Pierre.
The film's narrative starts on the premise of cause-and-effect action and how seemingly random occurrences have fateful consequences. At the heart of the drama is the arson that is committed on a farm house with the petty criminal unaware that the home was occupied by a young woman. The film builds from that experience with a quirky set of characters playing out a fantasy revenge and redemption story.
The directorial approach to the film could have been more creative in evoking the supernatural aura surrounding the character of Stella. It was not clear, for instance, how Stella could appear to Pierre both as a real-life character and as a vision of light. There were too many confusing moments that could have been imaginatively developed in an otherwise thoughtful and sensitive film idea.