Return to Sender

John Chard

Address Known - Motives Sketchy. Fouad Mikati directs and Patricia Beauchamp and Joe Gossett write this slow burn drama that sadly never resorts to anything of note. It stars Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez and Nick Nolte. Music is by Daniel Hart and cinematography by Russell Carpenter. A small town nurse is raped and takes the decision to befriend the rapist while he's in prison. Is it a way of exorcising her demons? Or something sinister? You can see and feel that there's a real good film here trying to get out, a meditation on a number of things that only victims of heinous crimes can truly understand. There's interesting observations on sociopathy, fractured family values and loneliness, but in spite of the sterling efforts of Pike to make it work, it's constructed so poorly, too often wearisome, and it cheats by not paying off on the slow- burn approach. The final revelation only makes you realise that it has taken an hour and half of film to achieve what American Mary did in 20 minutes! Add in that Nolte is utterly wasted and that Fernandez simply isn't strong enough for the role (he's the guy that isn't Joaquin Phoenix), and you got one messy movie that's best avoided. 5/10