Jay Anania sculpts a quiet and powerful tale about a man who finds himself living in the in-between. William Vincent—played by the talented James Franco, whose performance saturates the screen—coolly embraces his second chance at life by spending his days eating alone in restaurants and editing nature videos in a small storefront apartment in lower Manhattan. He relishes in living on the fringe, unnoticed and in the obscurity of the everyday, stepping out on occasion to pickpocket a bourgeois businessman or defend a poor waitress. The concrete landscape provides perfect camouflage as he walks the path to becoming a reluctant criminal. But when William meets Anne (the radiant Julianne Nicholson), he is forced to emerge from the shadows.
Anania's rhythmic pacing and delicate yet haunting score generate a disquieting tone that is echoed in the cast's strong performances. Beautifully shot, the New York cityscape provides an enthralling backdrop as Anania unravels a dark and genuine love story explored with nuance and subtlety.
