Review: Galveston

Adapted from the novel by True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, Galveston is a striking Southern noir meets Jim Thompson hybrid surprisingly directed by French actress Mélanie Laurent, here making her English-language directing debut. Laurent certainly does well in evincing deeply committed and felt performances from her two leads, and is skilful at crafting mood and tightly staged sequences such as the one in the final act that's simultaneously savage and filled with a murmuring sense of grace. Yet the film falls into a stasis from which it never fully recovers.

Ben Foster is Roy, first seen walking out of the doctor's office after being diagnosed with lung cancer and lighting up a cigarette. He's a hot-tempered enforcer for local mob boss Stan (Beau Bridges), who is none too happy that Roy used to be with his girl and has sent Roy on a job from which he isn't supposed to survive. Except survive Roy does, even managing to free nineteen-year-old call girl Rocky (Elle Fanning) and swipe some important looking documents in the process.

Hightailing it to his hometown of Galveston, the two make a detour to Rocky's home, where she shoots her stepfather and rescues her three-year-old sister Tiffany, who becomes another passenger in the pair's odyssey. Not that it's much of an odyssey for the three hole themselves up in a seedy Galveston hotel as they wait for the inevitable violence about to be unleashed upon them by Stan and his men. This allows for both interludes touching, such as Roy and Rocky dancing in the bar, and tragic as the two share their histories of trauma and abuse. Galveston may be deeply atmospheric and feature remarkable widescreen compositions by cinematographer Arnaud Potier, but the main attractions here are Foster and Fanning, both of whom deliver almost painfully raw portrayals.

Perhaps this is not so out of left field for Foster, who has successfully established himself as a reliable character actor at home in any genre. He channels his intensity into something of a personal awakening that's more to do with a newfound sense of responsibility than any rehabilitation of character. Fanning reaches new depths, adding layers to a role that could easily have been a hooker with a heart of gold stereotype. It's been interesting to watch her transition from child star to teen star and now adult actress, and it will be as interesting to witness Laurent's own progression for one senses that both she and Fanning have yet to tap their true potential.

Galveston

Directed by: Mélanie Laurent

Written by: Jim Hammett; based on the novel by Nic Pizzolatto

Starring: Ben Foster, Elle Fanning, Lili Reinhart, Adepero Oduye, Robert Aramayo, Beau Bridges, María Valverde