Little Odessa

The most recent two films (TWO LOVERS and WE OWN THE NIGHT) from James Gray showed how he was advancing as a filmmaker. TWO LOVERS was crisper than WE OWN THE NIGHT in its storyline, and even though both films are great, TWO LOVERS transcended whatever expectations there already were. LITTLE ODESSA (Gray's first film) shows how much he has progressed since then. The film tells of a young boy, about the age of all young boys in films, who hears his brother is back in town. The brother is a hit man, Josh, (Tim Roth) who was kicked out of the house for murdering someone. The kid is eager to meet up with Josh, because their mother is dying of cancer. Josh and the kid, it seems, were beaten on a regular basis by their father. The truly interesting part of this tale is the relationship between Josh and his father: that tension from unnamed events in the past. However, Gray's necessity in this film to fit everything he wanted to accomplish in makes for an unwieldy and awkward film. There are action and chase scenes, perhaps because he thought this would be his only film and he would have to fit them in somehow. When considered under specific scenes and camera movements, this would seem to be quite a good film, and it is truly well directed and acted. However, there is just so much going on in such a small grouping of events, that the film seems to take itself too seriously and accentuates itself by simply being and acting.
Little Odessa: ★★1/2