Causeway

 

Causeway
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, Jayne Houdyshell
Directed by Lila Neugebauer

When people think of Jennifer Lawrence's first film, most will go to the wildly popular "Hunger Games" franchise, but they'd be wrong. While she had bit parts in forgettable films like "Garden Party," "The Poker House," and "The Burning Plain," she got her first major role in the small film "Winter's Bone," which earned the then-twenty-year old her first Academy Award nomination and propelled her into the national spotlight. The film focused on her character trying to protect her poverty stricken family from eviction, and showcased her talent with a bare-bones design that focused solely on her commanding presence. While she's become a major star since then appearing in several franchise films, her bread and butter are these smaller independent films that focus on her stellar acting abilities, and "Causeway" is her return to such oft-forgotten films that should never be forgotten.

After suffering a traumatic brain injury during her tour in Afghanistan, Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) must not only re-learn simple tasks, but return to her hometown where she's estranged from her alcoholic mother and her brother who's in prison for drug dealing. As soon as she arrives home she wants to re-deploy just to get away from her hometown, and she takes great offense to having to be taken care of by others as well as relying on pills to aid in her recovery - she's someone who, at a young age, had to learn to fend for herself, and she can't tolerate being dependent on anyone else. When her truck breaks down, she takes it to local mechanic James (Brian Tyree Henry), and the two at first are wary of one another, but soon strike up a friendship where it seems that they've been friends for years. Despite this, both are harboring secrets that they don't want to reveal to one another, and both of their inner demons threaten to come out in unhealthy ways.

The film is solely focused on Lynsey and James and how their friendship blossoms, but also knowing that the fabled Sword of Damocles looms over them, with the rope almost cut away. Lynsey struggles with relying on others and has a wanderlust to get away from her one-horse town and either return to duty, move somewhere else, or anything just to get away from her past trauma that she encountered there. James, meanwhile, appears to be a listening ear and comforting figure, but he too harbors a dark past that haunts him, which in a sense shows how these two could be so close, yet knowing that the secrets they keep will come back to bite them and threaten their newfound friendship.

Still, despite the secrets they hide, they also help one another through their hardships. James helps Lynsey re-join the real world by showing her the smaller joys in life, while she helps James learn to open up about his insecurities (he has a mechanical leg after a car accident) and value the importance of life. Even though they both act like they don't need anyone, deep down they know they do, and they find solace in one another.

Jennifer Lawrence channels her "Winter's Bone" work here, stripping down the Hollywood facade of makeup, rich costume designs, and flawless personality to portray Lynsey as a broken woman, struggling to get back to normal after the IED explosion that literally rocked her brain in Afghanistan, and we see this struggle not just with her words but her small mannerisms as well. When she drops a snow cone that James got her, we see her deep sense of sorrow in the seconds after it happens and she just stands there. Or when she's re-learning how to drive and there's a few moments of silence as a single tear falls from her eye. She knows how to use her body to convey a message, and she's so in-tune with that ability that it comes almost naturally.

Brian Tyree Henry is better known as a comedian, but here he doesn't offer any laughs as James, a man struggling with his past and also looking for a friend, finding one in Lynsey. His performance is revolutionary for his career, opening him up to more dramatic roles in the future as he totally sheds his comedic skin and puts on a deeply dramatic one, culminating in a jaw-dropping denouement between the two friends that showcases his raw talent.

"Causeway" is one of those smaller films that fall through the cracks in an overly saturated big budget market, a film that isn't showy or flashy in its gimmicks but rather provides a bare-bones drama that hits all too close to home for most people. The idea of wanting to conceal who you really are, hide your past hurts, and try to be independent while knowing you need to rely on others are issues that many people face daily, and "Causeway" delicately discusses these topics through the eyes of two characters who by all intents and purposes should never have met let alone become close friends.

The Score: A