Review by
Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Elfar Adalsteins
Starring: John Hawkes, Logan Lerman, Sarah Bolger, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
In ersatz road movie End of Sentence, a running joke involves an American having to drive a ‘stick’ instead
of the automatic he is used to, resulting in frequent comedic lurches of
the hire car as said hapless driver struggles with the manual
transmission. The cheery conceit could well be a metaphor for this scrappy
and witty feature length directorial debut from Elfar Adalsteins,
which, although at times ungainly, certainly takes its audience on a daft
and fun trip. Likewise, Michael Armbruster’s canny screenplay
involves many abrupt narrative gear changes which wrongfoot the audience:
just when we assume the film is going one way, the plot or a character
surprises us and further makes the shaggy dog journey of
End of Sentence a roadworthy, immensely enjoyable
experience.
We open heavy: a middle-aged couple (Frank and Anna:
John Hawkes, Andrea Irvine) visit their son in the big house, where
the twentyish Sean (Logan Lerman) is doing a short stretch of bird
for grand theft auto. In these early scenes the film is thin lipped and
serious. Anna, a woman dying of aggressive cancer has come to the prison
to see her wayward son for the last time: an officious screw tells her to
remove her headscarf, which leaves Anna, and her chemo-baldness, exposed.
Soon after, Anna passes on, and Frank, although surrounded by polite
mourners, seems completely alone at the funeral. Just as well that
Sean is due to be released, then? Not so fast. Father and son are at
embittered odds, with Sean holding on to some lingering childhood
resentments, most notably that Frank, an absolute milquetoast, didn’t
stand up to his son’s abusive grandfather.
Via a brief confluence of narrative contortions, the estranged odd couple
- Sean streetwise and tough, Frank weedy and bookish - nonetheless wind up
taking a road trip from the States to the Emerald Isle in order to deposit
Anna’s ashes in a lake. Our first evidence of the screwball energy which
the films dips into comes when cautious driver Frank is flipped the bird
by an elderly female driver (haha, old people swearing), confounding any
disagreeable concerns that this could be the start of a worthy,
sentimental journey (I mean, of course, the learning and the healing will
duly arrive, but in End of Sentence it feels earned, rather
than rote). The film does, however, take a little while to get moving in
this first act. An extended scene with Anna’s Irish relatives is broad and
airless, ultimately a bit pointless in terms of drama, except perhaps to
hint that the saintly Anna had a few unwelcome secrets herself.
The above is an early example of this film’s sharp character construction,
which is perhaps best exemplified by the character of free-spirited Jewel
(a great Sarah Bolger), whom Sean meets in a late-night hotel bar,
promptly gets off with and, when, in the morning, the car won’t start,
suitably impresses Frank when she pops open the hood and immediately
identifies the problem and fixes it (mechanic pixie girl?). The film hits
its stride with this character introduction, despite the eye rolling
platitudes which Jewel expounds - "We might go on rides with bad boys, but
the kind ones are who we stay with," she reassures Frank; um, you’re all
of 25?- which again work upon existing cliches, because as ever, things
are not as we may expect... (think Alison Doody...)
At its best, End of Sentence sort of reminded me of the wild ride of an early Jonathan Demme
film, that sense of loose, frantic storytelling. At times it ain’t half
ropey, though. There is an incredible moment when, in a port town, the
father and son duo run into some rugby supporters drunk as lords and
loitering in town. Hilariously, Sean approaches them and hopelessly asks
"Anyone seen a girl? Driving an Audi?" - hahahahaha! The thing is the
rugby contingent are all in red shirts and are singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau;
i.e., they are Welsh. You get the feeling that the crew spotted some rugby
lads waiting to catch the ferry back to Holyhead on the day of filming and
thought to chuck them into the movie to add some local colour
(Welsh/Irish-all Celtic, innit). It is this sort of spontaneous,
freewheeling energy which characterises
End of Sentence though, an amusing and sweet natured film
which will leave you with a lovely warm feeling inside.
End of Sentence is on UK/ROI
Digital from May 10th.
