Leave No Trace
3.5/4
Starring: Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Ben Foster
Rated PG for Thematic Elements Throughout
"Leave No Trace" might be the saddest movie I've seen in a long time. This is a movie about loss, isolation and a tremendous amount of pain.
Will (Foster) has been living off the grid with his daughter Tom (McKenzie). How long is anyone's guess, but they've been doing it long enough to live undetected and disappear when needed. But one day Tom slips, and they're caught. Now the two are forced to re-enter society. But Will harbors deep wounds that make such an adjustment difficult, and Tom has to decide whether or not to follow.
Co-writer/director Debra Granik avoids the fatal mistake of a story like this: turning Will into some sort of rebellious anti-hero. There is never a doubt that Will suffers from severe psychological and emotional problems. PTSD is mentioned, but a case could be made for schizophrenia. And while he is Tom's father, in many ways he is far more dependent on her than she is on him. Granik never lionizes or romanticizes their lifestyle. It's a grim, cheerless world they occupy. Tom is adaptable, but once she gets the taste of normalcy, she finds it difficult to go back.
The success of the film is almost entirely dependent of the performances of Thomasin Harcourt Mckenzie and Ben Foster, and they don't disappoint. Ben Foster is no stranger to playing psychos and emotionally-damaged individuals. In fact, he mined similar territory a decade ago in "The Messenger." But his character in that movie was a well-adjusted individual compared to the living catastrophe he plays here. Will is so broken that he can't even accept that he is incapable of raising his daughter. Physically, perhaps, since they are both survivors. But his paranoia and antisocial behavior have stunted her psychological development, There are things in life that she needs but he cannot provide. As Tom, his young co-star is every bit his equal. Her performance works because she goes for absolute realism. She is a matter-of-fact girl, and acts according to her needs and nothing more. There's almost no artifice to her performance because she never reaches for effect. She simply copes the best she knows how. Though a long shot (the movie was shut out of the Golden Globes), both McKenzie and especially Foster deserve Oscar regnition.
Granik directs this movie with tremendous restraint. She concentrates on mood and body language rather than lengthy speeches (she and Foster worked together to remove about 40% of the dialogue before filming). It's a risky move, but it works here because Will is simply unable to function in social settings. Expressing himself verbally is out of the question. By limiting such a common form of communication, she highlights the emotional underpinning. This is not a happy movie.
Mention also has to be made of to evocative cinematography of Michael McDonaugh. Without taking the cliché route of bleeding the color out of the screen, McDonaugh creates an atmosphere that is cold, bleak, and oppressive. The chilly weather is palpable; I felt like I was wandering the Oregon woods at 6 am.
James Berardinelli once said that the difference between a very good movie and a great one is how much it lingers in the mind. As per my tradition, I'm writing the review as soon as the movie ended. But I don't imagine I will be able to forget it any time soon. "Leave No Trace" is too bleak to recommend to everyone, but for those who to, they will find their time well spent. This is one of the year's very best.
Starring: Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Ben Foster
Rated PG for Thematic Elements Throughout
"Leave No Trace" might be the saddest movie I've seen in a long time. This is a movie about loss, isolation and a tremendous amount of pain.
Will (Foster) has been living off the grid with his daughter Tom (McKenzie). How long is anyone's guess, but they've been doing it long enough to live undetected and disappear when needed. But one day Tom slips, and they're caught. Now the two are forced to re-enter society. But Will harbors deep wounds that make such an adjustment difficult, and Tom has to decide whether or not to follow.
Co-writer/director Debra Granik avoids the fatal mistake of a story like this: turning Will into some sort of rebellious anti-hero. There is never a doubt that Will suffers from severe psychological and emotional problems. PTSD is mentioned, but a case could be made for schizophrenia. And while he is Tom's father, in many ways he is far more dependent on her than she is on him. Granik never lionizes or romanticizes their lifestyle. It's a grim, cheerless world they occupy. Tom is adaptable, but once she gets the taste of normalcy, she finds it difficult to go back.
The success of the film is almost entirely dependent of the performances of Thomasin Harcourt Mckenzie and Ben Foster, and they don't disappoint. Ben Foster is no stranger to playing psychos and emotionally-damaged individuals. In fact, he mined similar territory a decade ago in "The Messenger." But his character in that movie was a well-adjusted individual compared to the living catastrophe he plays here. Will is so broken that he can't even accept that he is incapable of raising his daughter. Physically, perhaps, since they are both survivors. But his paranoia and antisocial behavior have stunted her psychological development, There are things in life that she needs but he cannot provide. As Tom, his young co-star is every bit his equal. Her performance works because she goes for absolute realism. She is a matter-of-fact girl, and acts according to her needs and nothing more. There's almost no artifice to her performance because she never reaches for effect. She simply copes the best she knows how. Though a long shot (the movie was shut out of the Golden Globes), both McKenzie and especially Foster deserve Oscar regnition.
Granik directs this movie with tremendous restraint. She concentrates on mood and body language rather than lengthy speeches (she and Foster worked together to remove about 40% of the dialogue before filming). It's a risky move, but it works here because Will is simply unable to function in social settings. Expressing himself verbally is out of the question. By limiting such a common form of communication, she highlights the emotional underpinning. This is not a happy movie.
Mention also has to be made of to evocative cinematography of Michael McDonaugh. Without taking the cliché route of bleeding the color out of the screen, McDonaugh creates an atmosphere that is cold, bleak, and oppressive. The chilly weather is palpable; I felt like I was wandering the Oregon woods at 6 am.
James Berardinelli once said that the difference between a very good movie and a great one is how much it lingers in the mind. As per my tradition, I'm writing the review as soon as the movie ended. But I don't imagine I will be able to forget it any time soon. "Leave No Trace" is too bleak to recommend to everyone, but for those who to, they will find their time well spent. This is one of the year's very best.
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