Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s sophomore feature, “Spring,” starts as a downbeat beatdown of a bad luck drama, then blossoms into a European journey, a fraught romantic pursuit, a horror movie and, ultimately, a sweet, haunting enigma with layers of subtext worth a ponder or two. Lou Taylor Pucci (“Thumbsucker”) plays Evan, a young man who leaves town after getting into a punch-up at the bar where he works the night after his mother’s death, winding up along the Italian Mediterranean where he meets Louise (Nadia Hilker), a beautiful and smart woman he can’t quite figure, and ultimately, doesn’t care whether she’s “a vampire, werewolf, zombie, witch or alien.” (Resemblances to Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy are not entirely in your mind.) Still, she’s all woman, and her fears about romance, commitment, life itself, are encapsulated in her corporeal dilemmas. It’s a leisurely delight, and wonderfully assured. 109m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
