Restless Directed by: Gus Van Sant Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Schuyler Fisk Rating: PG-13 Release Date: January 28, 2011
TRAILER SCORE: 5/10
MY THOUGHTS: Every so often, a movie will come along that looks like it has potential. That was the case with Restless until I got to the second sentence of its plot summary. The premise of a terminally ill girl falling in love with a morbid, funeral crashing dreamboat may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I can't think of too many people that have done it before. In a weird way, I was excited, or at least ready for another melodramatic tear jerker. Wasikowska has proven herself a talent to watch with The Kids Are All Right and Van Sant always has a way with fledgling actors so Hopper's inexperience doesn't worry me. What does worry me is adding a ghost into the mix. DOn't get me wrong, I love a good ghost story, but it is quite possibly the most unnecessary and bizarre plot device I've seen in recent history. What does a dead kamikaze pilot add to the story? I get the sense that you're supposed to go into the movie with questions, but that's the kind of question that makes me want to stay away from a movie at all costs.
Restless may have some hope with its cast, but the addition of the ghostly character has pretty much ruined any chances of me ever seing this movie. It's a shame too because it has something going for it until about a minute in when it pretty much loses all credibility.