Hallie Elizabeth Newton and Bahrani have crafted an extremely well structured script that is deft in handling the complexity of the characters and their conflicts, both external and internal. At times however the script could have used less dialogue (think Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven). Bahrani’s camera masterfully captured the cast’s rich emotive performances, particularly their body language and facial expression. Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and Maika Monroe (Cadence), Dean’s rejected love interest provided particularly powerful performances. ‘Newbee’ actress Monroe, just eighteen years of age, more than holds her own on screen and is definitely an extraordinary talent. It helps that she is cast as a ‘hero’ of sorts, an outsider and moral foil to the Whipples. Bahrani’s casting choice was spot-on: smart, vulnerable but emotionally tough, and with a strong sense of right and wrong, Monroe’s Cadence renders all of these character elements beautifully on screen. Despite her less than privileged background Cadence gets out of town. Adding to the emotional power of the film is Bahrani’s cinematic use of landscape. Sweeping shots of cornfields and the context itself of the crime frames the significance of excessive ‘wants’ that evolves as an underlying theme in the story.
Henry’s initial and ironically existential sales pitch about a man’s wants by the end of the film becomes ‘a man who wants too much is a man in trouble’. Bahrani’s family parable poses more questions than answers. The Director himself admits he intended us to think about the question “at any price” more deeply and with some sense of moral urgency. By resisting the urge for resolution of the family’s conscience, he has left us to ponder the conclusions.
As entertaining as it is deep, Ramin Bahrani has made an important, thought provoking film. A must see.
-Alfredo Romano