'Causeway' succeeds at sadness and connection
A24
It’s been too long since Oscar-winning, franchise-leading Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “The Hunger Games”) has had a rich part in a small-scale movie like “Causeway.” It’s not the type of role or project overall that requires style (“American Hustle”) or is meant to create enormous argument or sensation (“Mother!”) It’s just work that understands trauma and the past’s unknown forecast for the future.
Lawrence stars as Lynsey, who returns to New Orleans after suffering a TBI while serving in Afghanistan. After her mom’s truck breaks down, Lynsey meets James (Brian Tyree Henry of “Bullet Train” and “Eternals”), who is also lonely and unsure how, or if, he will ever emerge from what has happened to him. Their evolving friendship drives “Causeway” toward meaningful recognition of why some people can and can’t hear each other, and why sometimes even that may not be enough to keep them around.
I’m not sure “Causeway” ever feels entirely authentic; multiple characters are a bit too articulate about their visible and invisible wounds, and the script feels designed for emotional impact rather than originality or subtlety. But the performances more than compensate, with Lawrence and Henry creating characters who never fathomed feeling this way and must cope with whether they will ever not feel this way again. The reasons are very different, but first-time feature director Lila Neugebauer and her cast make you want to spend time among these destabilized people, to absorb their regret, process their pain, and hope that they find a way to cope with the life they have, not the one they imagined.
B
ORDER “TALK ‘90S WITH ME: 23 UNPREDICTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH STARS OF AN UNFORGETTABLE DECADE”
Matt’s new book arrived Sept. 27, 2022, and Richard Roeper raves: “Matt Pais deserves four stars for reintroducing us to many of the greatly talented but often unsung heroes of 1990s film. This is a terrific read.”
ARE YOU A “SAVED BY THE BELL” FAN?
Order “Zack Morris Lied 329 Times! Reassessing every ridiculous episode of ‘Saved by the Bell’ … with stats” (featuring interviews with 22 cast members, plus the co-founder of Saved by the Max and the creator of “Zack Morris is Trash”)
GET 100 STORIES FOR JUST $4.99