Causeway - Review

Causeway is timely film from first time director Lila Neugebauer which tells the story of a war veteran, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who must adjust to life back home after suffering a traumatic brain injury in combat over seas. I was really looking forward to this movie since I think Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress and this sounded like a movie I would be interested in while being one that was relevant to the times we are living in where footage of the war in Ukraine is often on the news each and every night. While I was looking forward to this movie I did fear that it would be hard for the film to separate itself from many of the war films I had previously seen which deal with soldiers suffering from PTSD including Thank You for Your Service, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, American Sniper, etc. However, the film suffers most from trying to distinguish itself from Jennifer Lawrence’s previous roles most notably her performance in Silver Linings Playbook which bares several striking resemblances to her role here. For instance, in both films Jennifer Lawrence plays a woman who has experienced a trauma and ends up befriending a man who is also similarly struggling with issues from his past. Furthermore, in both films Jennifer Lawrence jogs several times and has an outburst in a restaurant, maybe I have seen Silver Linings Playbook too many times as it is one of my favourite films but I think these similarities are worth nothing. However, baring these overlapping themes I did end up enjoying Causway a lot and I think it is one of the better films I have seen thus far in working my way through the Oscar nominees. The movie is clearly well made as can be seen in the very first shot of the film where Lawrence appears to be standing on the sidewalk captured from an over the shoulder perspective though it is later revealed in the same shot once she moves further into the frame that she is in fact in a wheelchair. A similar sequence happens later in the film with Brian Tyree Henry’s character, a mechanic whom Lawrence befriends, where he is first seen laughing with someone at his place of work in the distance and then is shown to be limping over to Lawrence to give her an estimate on her truck showing that he too is suffering some sort of injury. I thought both of the scenes were incredibly well done and go along with the larger theme of the movie that while people may appear alright on the outside there is a lot more to them and they may in fact be suffering under the surface. The film does a great job of creating empathy for Lawrence’s character both due to her incredible performance and the way it is filmed which I thought was especially noticeable in one sequence captured in a static shot inside the vehicle of her truck where she nearly has an accident. Specifically, Lawrence is seen driving her truck which begins faltering due to a mechanical problem which leads her to panic as can be seen by the look on her face and by the way she chaotically drives the vehicle to the side of the road to avoid a collision. Additionally, this sequence was not accompanied by any musical score adding to the intensity of the moment since all of the emotion in the scene came from Lawrence’s performance and the movements of the vehicle making it feel more authentic and spur of the moment as opposed to the typical orchestrated action sequence in a run of the mill Hollywood film. Lawrence also has great chemistry with Brian Tyree Henry especially in one moment where she asks him about his sister, whom she used to know, and she realizes it is a sensitive subject for him based on the look on his face so she drops the subject so as to not make him more uncomfortable. I think the chemistry between the two leads worked so well since the film did not rely on the standard trope of having the two become a couple as so often happens in these kinds of movies. Brian Tyree Henry gives a great performance here with a great mix of vulnerability and charisma which shines brightest in one scene where he asks Lawrence to move in with him since he thinks it would be nice to have someone around the house to spend time with though not in a romantic way and instead to just be able to have someone their with him. Their friendship is not all fun though as they later come to blows in one intense argument that felt both genuine and raw as both characters tore into each other and wore away at the stories they had shared where they concealed certain aspects concerning what they were really struggling with. Another actor who is really good here, though they only have one scene, is Russell Harvard who plays Lawrence’s estranged brother who ended up in prison. Lawrence decides late in the film to try and reconcile with her brother where it is revealed that he, and the actor, are deaf and they have a touching conversation together in prison using ASL instead of the telephones which was a very unique and well handled scene that I cannot remember seeing anything similar to. The movie also touches on a larger issue by showing that Jennifer Lawrence wishes to return to the military, after being horribly injured in combat, simply because she cannot seem to figure out another way to escape from her living situation at home with her mother who she does not enjoy spending time with which is an interesting look at the military. While I did really enjoy the movie I did have two major criticisms the first being that the film seemed to condone impaired driving in that Lawrence drove Henry home after the two shared several beers and smoked some marijuana even though Henry had just shared with Lawrence that he had been in a car horrible accident in the past that took his leg and his nephew’s life where it is later revealed he was intoxicated at the time behind the wheel. The other major problem I had with the movie was the ending which is very abrupt and not fully satisfying which was very unfortunate as I had enjoyed so much of the movie up to that point given how streamlined it had been with every scene seeming necessary with no wasted moments. However, several problems are brought up late in the third act of the film, such as Lawrence’s strained relationship with her brother, her wishing to redeploy back into combat, and the awful fight she has with Henry where it seems the platonic nature of their friendship may be shifting, and none of these are given a proper resolution and instead are quickly glanced over with short conversations that do not directly address the issues brought up earlier. I really enjoyed the movie but it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth as all the great moments in the film end up being better than the film as a whole since the ending leaves you feeling like there should be at least another twenty minutes developing these characters and showing how they will persevere. I still recommend this movie since it is a very well made film with two great performances though I must warn that the ending may leave you unsatisfied. I gave this film a 7/10.

It should be noted that the abrupt nature of the film's ending may have been a result several delays the filmmakers encountered including Hurricane Barry and later the Covid-19 pandemic such that the movie which went into production in 2019 was not released until this past year.

Here is the trailer for the film.