Surprises good and bad.

The most pleasantly surprising things about this film, starring and produced by Twilight sensation Robert Pattinson, is how low-key but well done it is and how good he is in it. Moving away from his teen fanbase into a serious indie drama, Pattinson gives us a performance that much more closely resembles a credible human being than a plank of wood. Don't get me wrong... he's not showing he's a great actor (yet) but at least here he deserves to actually be called an actor. He can act. He is helped out by a strong supporting cast who are all on top form (Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Lean Olin and Lost's Emilie De Ravin). There's chemistry in the romance and real feeling in the family dynamics. Special plaudits to Brosnan whose detached father figure comes close to stealing the whole movie.

The plot follows the relationship between Pattinson, (approaching his 22nd birthday which is the age his older brother committed suicide 6 years previously and trying to deak with his fractured family) and De Ravin (whose mother was murdered on the subway in front of her and whose cop father is rather over-protective and was also responsible for giving Pattinson a beating one night). The film plays out these tensions and dramas in a well-observed and interesting way as the plot lines and character arcs start to resolve.

At least, it does for 90% of its running time. Just as everything has reached its seeming conclusion, the score and the cutting clue you into the fact that there's another twist coming and its not going to be a good one. When you do work out what's going on, its something so out of left-field and out of step with the rest of the movie that it feels like it overbalances everything else and you leave feeling betrayed. Then on more refelection, I started to think that that was maybe the whole point. It was trying to recreate a feeling of a certain moment. Still not totally sure if that's good thing or if it works.

Summary: 7/10 Pattinson has never been better and the whole is an intertesting, emotionally real drama with a difficult ending that you will need to make your own mind up about.