SXSW Film

Apart

Lone Star States
D: Aaron Rottinghaus; with Josh Danziger, Olesya Rulin, Joey Lauren Adams

Filmed in Houston exurbs Rosenburg and Richmond, Apart stars Texas native and UT alumnus Danziger as Noah, a young man struggling to put together his past after spending two years in a coma. As much of a straight-out-of-film-school premise that is, the twist is that both Noah and his beloved, Emily (Rulin), suffer from a rare strain of schizophrenia in which they share delusional visions. Apart toys with the conventions of linear narrative and features some pretty cool visual tricks that usually signal a delusional vision. While Danziger is certainly a talent to watch, the film's weakest performance comes from Rulin who, while she can certainly deploy her enormous doe eyes and urchinlike countenance to look stricken/miserable/terrified/despondent, is not such great shakes in the line-delivery department. On the whole, though, the film is engaging and sad, intriguing and devastating, and infused with a wholly Texan sensibility that inspires a sense of recognition and regional pride.

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Thursday, March 17, noon, Paramount