Shadows on the Wall

Behemoth!

dir-scr Tony Gilroy
prd Tony Gilroy, John Gilroy, Sanne Wohlenberg
with Pedro Pascal, Will Arnett, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, JoBeth Williams, Hank Azaria, Erik Griffin, Stephanie Sigman, Margarita Levieva, Matthew Lillard, Thomas Kretschmann
release US/UK 4.Dec.26
26/US Searchlight 2h04

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Playfully using music as the glue in a story that traces the life of a cellist, writer-director Tony Gilroy hired nine composers to work on aspects of this film. This creates wonderful nuances that continually catch us off-guard, as the central character is essentially providing the score to his own odyssey. All of this unfolds in fragments, which is somewhat distancing, but the blast of emotion is real.

Top cellist Alex (Pascal) is thinking about his past as he moves home to Los Angeles after a stint playing with a Chicago orchestra. But his obsessive ex Carol (Wilde) doesn't want to let him go, and chases him west. Now working in sessions for movie soundtracks, Alex also meets up with his estranged brother Andy (Arnett) to discuss care for their elderly harpist mother (Williams). He also thinks back to his memorable romance with Nadia (Victor) in Dallas, sparked by the viral moment her 16-year-old musical prodigy daughter Vivian (Swinton) is having right now.

Watching everything through Alex's self-reflective eyes, the film reveals his story out of sequence, as memories flow into each other and the musical cues he is playing underscore other scenes as they are cross-cut together. This is a serious feat for Gilroy and his editor brother John, inventively revealing the plot's secrets by allowing the audience to see beneath the surface. This also means that the side roles are unusually vivid, each with their own powerful subplot that only briefly intersects with Alex's life.

Of course, none of this would work without Pascal's beautifully textured performance, which lets us see his thoughts and feelings long before he expresses them (or attempts to). So there is compassion, kindness and love beneath his jagged banter, wry observations and seemingly brusque silences. This informs complex relationships in scenes with the terrific Arnett and Victor, and adds a hilarious kick to his nutty interaction with Wilde's self-involved Carol.

Jumping around the narrative makes it a bit difficult to get fully involved, but the emotions emerge strongly in several key scenes, most notably a delicately climactic moment between Alex and Vivian. So the film leaves us with plenty to think about, especially relating to decisions we may now regret. More importantly, it encourages us to reject being defined by our past trauma, finding a healthy way to move forward on our own terms.

themes, language, violence 12.Oct.26

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