Rock and roll is full of legendary figures who flamed out young, victims of their own success. This is one such (fictional) story, but told from the viewpoint of the girlfriend left behind. Elly (Toni Collette), left with only a cryptic note, has had ten years to wonder whether Matthew Smith jumped off a bridge (the prevailing theory) or simply disappeared (hers). She’s stayed at the same job, writing barely read stories about little-known musicians for a Seattle magazine in the Rolling Stone mode. To keep that job, she agrees to try to find Smith and write a story about it.
The resulting film is a mixture of road movie, comedy, romance, and character-driven drama, and most of that works pretty well. The love interest and charm is provided by actor-musician Ryan Eggold (The Blacklist). Thomas Haden Church, playing a wealthy eccentric that Elly once dated, supplies much of the comedy and road-trip repartee. An example of his eccentricities is his habitual drink order, a “clean glass,” a bottle of water, and a whole lime. Another is his broad distaste for music.
Smith, who has left behind one album (curiously, Elly has an LP, not a CD of it) beloved by a large cult, is the empty hole that Elly’s life, and the story, centers around. And we do, more or less, find out what happened to him, but you’ll know way ahead of time that this is one of those journey-not-the-destination kind of stories. It’s a very pleasant journey indeed with Collette and her costars, but the climax is still a bit underwhelming. When a movie is structured like a mystery, it’d be nice if we actually cared more about that mystery and found its solution satisfying.
IMDb link
viewed 6/27/14 6:30 pm at Roxy and posted 6/28/14
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