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The Return **** (out of four)
This is a great movie. It begins on a tower at the end of a causeway, where a group of boys are challenging each other to jump off into the water. One boy, the youngest, is too afraid to jump. He returns with his mother that night and is comforted. The next day, his father returns, after a 12 year absense, and they go on a road trip together, along with his older brother. The father has some business to conduct, and may be a criminal. The father is determined to teach his boys how to be men, but his long absense has left them untrustful of him, and his attempts to toughen them up come off not so much as learning experiences as borderline abuse.
He has a meeting with some men, and they may be covering up evidence of a crime; it's hard to tell. The meat of the movie occurs in the last part. The two boys and the ir father row to an island far from shore, where they camp out for several days. The father needs to retrieve something, and seems to want to spend time with his sons. There will be another test involving a tower, and scenes of amazing power.
This is a beautifully photographed movie. The landscapes are all bare and austere, the colors washed out to give everything an old, worn out look. Everything seems sad, as if it's the natural condition of the setting, which infects all of the people who live there.
It's a sneaky movie. It seems to be rambling and going nowhere until near the end, when a few seens of amazing power draw everything together. It's a character driven movie, so those who are into action, complex plotting, or broad humor best stay away.
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