Divergence (2007) User Reviews

Very slow movie with strong theme of connection

[Wm_Gardner · 6/10 · 17 May 2012]

Not the greatest film I have ever watched but far from the worst. Not much action gut not much to jerk the tears either.

Very slow movie that (finally) builds to the inevitable connection of these two broken souls and how they deal with his re-deployment to Iraq. It is an OK movie, a rental when you do need that slightly gloomy movie to remind you how we are all a bit "broken" and that we can still make something meaningful from what remains.

A lot of time is spent building up to their eventual "discovery" of each other. There is also a lot of time spent as they try to "figure out" how to deal with his re-deployment. She wants to run away together and he eventually agrees, but you can tell that he feels too obligated by duty to actually become a deserter. This outcome seems inevitable, regardless of his feelings about the war and what it has become.

In short, it is fairly well acted for what it is..... A film where two broken characters meet, bond, only share a little of how they are broken, accept each other for who they are, dream how to escape their lives, and then, in the end, are ripped apart although each is stronger for the experience. No happy ending, nothing to make you cry either. Their futures are left unresolved with no promises but some implied hope.

A 21st century "COMING HOME" - one of the best Post 9/11 films to date

[george.schmidt · 10/10 · 11 April 2007]

A 21st CENTURY "COMING HOME" ; ONE OF THE BEST POST 9/11 FILMS TO DATE

The war drama has been around as long as man has been fighting man – or so it seems at least on the silver screen. Each war has its definitive cinematic portrayal about the aftermath and homecoming of its combatants, forever changed by his or her experiences on the battlefield and the constant tug of consciousness of accepting the term of hero or patriot; or not.

The latest endeavor by newcomer filmmaker Patrick J. Donnelly, " DIVERGENCE", combines many of the elements of its subgenre – the wounded vet retuning to his hometown much for the worse trying to fit back into the groove of society while attempting to process the aftershocks of his experience while trying to find a reason for it all – in this Iraq War drama about Tim Lawson (Jakob Hawkins), a chopper pilot who has sustained a leg injury causing him to return stateside to heal until his preliminary check-up to ascertain if he is suitable to return to the warfront. Tim is a mild-mannered, quiet and deeply in pain young man whose return to his NJ Shore hamlet finds himself reunited with his best friend Dave (Ben Hindell), a self-employed contractor and his attorney girlfriend Jill (Jeannine Kaspar), who help him find a realtor to rent a bungalow until his scheduled physical.

Heidi (Marci Adilman), the realtor finds Tim an affordable temporary home and recognizes him immediately as former high school alum she secretly was in love with. Heidi's somewhat aggressive yet well-meaning free spirit is a bit of a comfort to the wary Tim and they have a half-hearted fling.

Tim's next-door neighbor, Clare O'Neil (the ethereal Traci Ann Wolfe), meanwhile, is holed up in her seaside cottage for nearly a year after the traumatic tragedy of a lethal car crash that claimed her loving husband and their four-year old daughter. Clare is inconsolable in spite of the prodding of her mother Constance (Mary Looram) and her brother Chris (Daniel Harnett) to move on and at the very least entertain the thought of a memorial service. Clare is damaged goods who is in a consistent depressive state fueled by prescription pills and vodka to the point of a near nervous breakdown.

One night Clare's grief has hit its limit to the degree of her stupored state involving a loud primal scream awakening Tim to investigate in time to see his mysterious neighbor walking directly into the pounding surf. Quickly racing to her in time, Tim saves her life and returns her to her house where she is immediately embarrassed and after a hasty goodnight Tim promises to return the next day to check up on her.

Clare eventually realizes she has made a horrific mistake and apologizes to Tim when he pays his second visit, offering to fix her broken front door lock and gradually the two injured, lost souls seek solace in one another. Tim begins to let his guard down by actually feeling something in a long time: love. Clare thaws from her frozen inertia to welcome Tim as a lover and eventually a soul mate. But Tim's forthcoming physical looms in the distance causing the couple to make a decision: leave the country to avoid Tim facing another tour of duty or for Tim to fulfill his obligation to the military.

Donnelly, a veteran key grip and director of photography, makes a remarkable film-making debut in this low-budget indie as a labor of love (his wife Meg Sudik is the film's executive producer) and wisely eschews the politics of the current state of war in the world but instead focuses on how two disparate yet equal people have found each other in a world gone mad. His cinematography is clear-eyed with the smart choice of using the barren yet beautiful shoreline act as a character as well – it eerily looks like the moon at night and serves as a metaphor for almost being a way-station (particularly in the sequence when the two tremulous new friends find themselves at night on a deserted beach bench sharing their life stories together). Donnelly's editing with Robert Mead is economical yet clever with his fades to quick black and some sequences ending abruptly as the next begins but not in a hurried way at all. The dirge-like melancholic score by Ronen Landa suggests a mournful chamber music piece that underscores the protagonists' situation beautifully.

But the sublime acting by Hawkins (who resembles Peter Krause) – his haunted eyes speak volumes for the words he can barely articulate except the excruciating moment of re- uniting with his Alzheimer's afflicted father in a nursing home of: "I just don't want to do this anymore" in reference of returning to the war – and the beautiful Wolfe, who resembles Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron, whose quiet demeanor only belies the terror under the surface of tying to start a new, fulfilling life again.

The film as a whole works as a character study and has the feel of a novella come to life but it is perhaps the best post 9/11 film I've seen – including "UNITED 93" and "WORLD TRADE CENTER" – because it focuses on a real human element: the promise of love amidst immense tragedy. This may very well be the "COMING HOME" of its generation.

Very moving story and beautifully shot

[waltersa · 10/10 · 9 June 2007]

I got the opportunity to see this film at a local film festival and was very impressed. This is a deeply emotional movie about coping with the past and finding a way to move forward. The acting was very good and I was able to get emotionally invested in the three main characters. I was drawn to them and could almost feel their pain. One of the major strengths of "Divergence" is the beautiful photography. It was filmed in a very scenic town along the coast of New Jersey. The use of ocean, sunsets, birds, and moon really enhanced this film greatly. I highly recommend this film, as it was a very well executed and insightful movie.

Uplifting and beautifully filmed

[ckingsley-1 · 10/10 · 27 June 2007]

This incredible film was so moving because it is so realistic and so relevant to events that are happening all over the country today. Men and women are struck so hard with the tragedies they are seeing during their tours of duty all over the world. Men and women at home are effected with tragedies that grip them so completely. This is a wonderful film of survival and recovery. The acting is phenomenal and the filming is beautiful. One would never know this was a first time effort for the Director/Writer, Patrick Donnelly. He brought a slice of American life to the screen with grace and realism. This is truly a "best film" that everyone should enjoy.

A gift, a diamond

[sidney76 · 10/10 · 28 November 2011]

I only just learned of this movie recently. I'm sorry it took me so long to discover it. This film is like visiting a town for the first time and happening on to one of the most wonderful museums or restaurants you have ever visited. The acting and the script are perfectly believable and deeply moving. Every actor, every scene is special. This story goes right to the heart and remains there. Congratulations and thank you to every single person that made this film possible. It is a beautiful gift to be treasured. I remember a blurb on the cover of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- "More, Mr. Kesey, more!" If I can borrow that entreaty, More, Mr. Donnelly, more!

Beautiful, Subltle Film With Genuine Heart

[partystarr · 10/10 · 5 July 2009]

Divergence is a lovely, beautifully-photographed film written, directed and performed with an unusual level of confidence.

Rather than detail the plot, which has been covered in other comments, I'd love to share some of the details that made the movie such a pleasure:

*Haunting, captivating and mature performances by all of the lead actors. Tracy Ann Wolf's "Clare" (who I figured out 1/2 way through the movie reminds me equally of Joely Richardson and Lost's Elizabeth Mitchel) is a tragic beauty, but you can always see the light in her eyes and potential for redemption. Jakob Hawkins' "Tim" could easily become a maudlin drip, but his appeal to both "Clare" and "Heidi" is entirely believable.

*Writer/Director Patrick Donnelly refreshingly avoids clichés in crafting the secondary characters. The "Main Character's Male Best Friend" is usually presented as a clown, jerk or manipulator. As written by Donnelley and acted by Bill Hidell, "Dave" is a smart, sweet, genuine guy who one wants the best for his BFF. And even more annoying cliché is "Best Friend's Wife/Girlfriend" who is invariably presented as a joyless shrew. Jeannine Kaspar's "Jill" in her few scenes proves a this type of character can be both mature and likable. The "Other Girl" is usually shown as sickly sweet, desperate, or slutty. Marci Adilman's "Heidi" has an infectious smile, charming manner, and good heart. She's not too good, or too bad for "Tim" - just the wrong girl at the wrong time and we have confidence her true love is right around the corner.

*Well thought out details fill the movie, from "Clare's" neglected bangs, to the charm of the sea-side cottages to "Tim's" surprising physical transformation.

Divergence was an unexpected gem of a movie. Smart, subtle, full of heart and soul and arresting performances.

Variety Review By Lisa Nesselson

[pdonnelly · 10/10 · 30 July 2007]

By Lisa Nesselson (Reviewed at Avignon Film Festival, France.)

An affecting portrait of two wounded souls healing as best they can on the New Jersey Shore in early 2003, "Divergence" boasts nuanced, quietly devastating perfs by relative newcomers Traci Ann Wolfe and Jakob Hawkins. Profoundly American in its evocation of duty and personal responsibility, pic also allows that there's such a thing as grief that sheer gumption can't remedy. The specter of America's presence in Iraq colors every frame. First pic by d.p. Patrick J. Donnelly shows talent all around. Lanky U.S. Army airborne helicopter pilot Tim Lawson (Hawkins) shows up on his chilly, sparsely populated home turf. On temporary leave due to a bad leg wound, Tim isn't terribly talkative with his more voluble pal, Dave (Ben Hindell).

Thanks to perky realtor Heidi Lipton (Marci Adilman, nailing an American archetype), Tim rents a beach cottage in which to recuperate and reflect. His neighbor is Clare O'Neil (Traci Ann Wolfe), who is grappling with at-first-unspecified grief, possibly related to the events of Sept. 11, but maybe not.

Lithe, blonde, good-boned Clare is cover-girl pretty and far from dumb, but unable to make sense of the overwhelming, senseless loss that has turned her life inside out. It emerges that she left a handsome home to drown her sorrow in alcohol -- so as not to drown herself, if the way she stares at the mighty tides at all hours is any indication.

Living with grief that refuses to be subsumed in distraction, central protags have been thrown off course. By proxy, the pic illuminates in small, relevant ways, how the nation itself has presumably veered off course in recent years.

With it's delicate, tentative rhythms and spare dialogue, narrative both bucks and embraces the notion of "getting on with" one's life in the wake of tragedy.

Stand-out scenes include Tim's visit to his father in a retirement home, Tim's domestic helicopter outing with his former employer who served in Vietnam, and Clare's tense meeting with her patrician mother who cares for her daughter, but may care about appearances more.

Unhurried yet suspenseful venture may strike some as needlessly downbeat, but pic's choice to often let dismay trump solace is what gives it its strength.

Camera (color, HD), Donnelly; editor, Robert Mead; music, Ronen Landa; art director, Brandon Cheek; set decorator, Adrina Garibian; costume designer, Lynne Curtis; sound (Dolby), Justin Gray; assistant director, Yori Tondrowski. Reviewed at Avignon Film Festival (competing), June 22, 2007. Running time: 113 MIN.