Title - Causeway (2022)
Director - Lila Neugebauer (feature debut)
Cast - Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry
Plot - Forced home from service in Afghanistan after a devestating injury, Lynsey (Lawrence) struggles to adapt back to everyday life with a new found friendship with kindly mechanic James (Henry) a shining light in a dark time.
"You're ok"
Review by Eddie on 31/05/2023
A simple, baggage free character driven drama that feels like more of a rarity in today's feature film landscape, The Maid breakout director Lila Neugebauer makes her feature length debut with the A24 distributed and Apple TV exclusive Causeway that offers up Jennifer Lawrence a return to the type of films she made her initial name with, as well as giving rising star (and here the Oscar nominated) Brian Tyree Henry another chance to shine in the cinematic landscape.
As familiar feeling and unspectacular as much of Causeway is, there's a gentle power to Neugebauer's dramatic exercise that sees the director trust her lead actors to do the heavy lifting and there will be many who get great joy out of simply watching Lawrence and Henry ply their trades in a way that in previous years may've seen the two performers compete heavily in the end of years awards ceremonies that have featured many similar such performances in years past.
Set in the always colorful surrounds of New Orleans and following the return to civilian life of Lawrence's injured army veteran Lynsey and her newly forming friendship with Henry's equally traumatized mechanic James, Causeway steers clear of big moments or revelatory incidents as it builds upon the steady but surely founded characterization that is its heart and soul as little moments add up to life changing lessons for its two main characters that are both likeable and relatable in many various ways.
Following on a hot streak that saw her become one of the biggest names in the industry, it's great to see Lawrence return from a self-imposed break and back participating in meaningful projects and her turn here as Lynsey brings back memories of her memorable performances in the likes of her breakout Winter's Bone or Like Crazy while for Henry, Causeway gives the hot property actor one of his meatiest feature roles yet on the heels of notable turns in the likes of Bullet Train, Widows and If Beale Street Could Talk and it could be argued that his turn here as James is even better than his role in Atlanta of which he made his name in.
In some ways a higher reaching narrative or character arcs that took us to unsuspecting places might have taken Causeway to a whole different level but with some emotionally charged moments that are deceptively powerful such as Lynsey's relationship with her estranged brother or James's recollections of experiences that have altered his life forever, Causeway is a quality drama that gives its two leads ample time to prove while they're two of the best in the business.
Final Say -
Driven by two outstanding lead turns, Causeway isn't a life-altering awards baiting drama but it's a simple and effective feature nonetheless and one that should be considered a must-watch for its two finely tuned lead performances.
3 1/2 swimming pools out of 5
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