Restless Information

Restless is a 2011 British-American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Jason Lew. It stars Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska. Shot in Portland, Oregon, United States, and produced by Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer for Sony Pictures Classics and Imagine Entertainment, it was released by Columbia Pictures on September 16, 2011. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on May 12.

Plot

A young man, Enoch, is out of school and has been befriended by a ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot. For unexplained reasons, he attends the funerals of strangers without invitation; at one of these he meets a young woman, Annabel, who says she works with children who have cancer, and the two start spending time together. Later Annabel acknowledges she has cancer herself, a fact which Enoch appears to accommodate, even when Annabel discovers she has only three months left to live. As their relationship becomes romantic, Enoch's placidity is explained by his own history of near-death experience, but when the loss of Annabel becomes a reality his behaviour betrays more evidence of turmoil. Annabel accepts and reacts to this. At Annabel's memorial Enoch asks to speak, but before he says anything memories of the couple's happiness together appear to resolve his grief.

Cast

• Henry Hopper as Enoch Brae
• Mia Wasikowska as Annabel "Annie" Cotton
• Ry? Kase as Hiroshi Takahashi, a ghost and Enoch's friend
• Schuyler Fisk as Elizabeth Cotton, Annabel's older sister
• Jane Adams as Mabel Tell, Enoch's aunt and guardian
• Chin Han as Dr. Lee, Annabel's physician
• Lusia Strus as Rachel Cotton, Annabel and Elizabeth's mother

Production

The film was produced through Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment by daughter and father Bryce Dallas Howard and Ron Howard, as well as Brian Grazer. In August 2009, Gus Van Sant signed on to direct Restless. Based on a play by Jason Lew, the story centers on young love and mortality. In October 2009, Mia Wasikowska joined the project as the female lead. Wasikowska cut her hair for the film. In November, Henry Hopper was cast as the male lead. Danny Elfman composed the score.

Principal photography began in Portland, Oregon on November 12, 2009 and concluded in December. Post-production was completed in July 2010.

Release

A trailer was released in October 2010. Restless was initially scheduled for release on January 28, 2011, but Columbia announced that they had pulled it from that slot in hopes of opening it later in the year. Columbia consequently withdrew the film from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival lineup as well.

Restless was released on September 16, 2011 by Sony Pictures Classics. The film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on May 12.

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews; it currently holds a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Mia Wasikowska puts in a nuanced performance but nobody else, actors and directors included, are capable of finding a compelling angle beneath the twee veneer." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has 48/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".