Reunited after a two-year estrangement, childhood friends Brooke and Morgan spend the early stages of "By Way of Home" catching up. The former, laid off and living with her parents, describes this state of affairs with a gentle euphemism ("the whole family's home"), but her delivery carries the unmistakable twang of disappointment. Spare and accomplished, writer-director Isaak James' microbudget indie -- produced for the unthinkably small sum of $1,000, using a borrowed 5D camera -- revels in such sly implications. Angst is not its default position. Rather, "By Way of Home" struck me as a feat of triangulation, balancing Brooke's palpable dissatisfaction against her nostalgia for the receding past. Like her brother Ben (James), whiling away the Great Recession in a shoddy trailer behind the family restaurant, Brooke (Eva James, the director's sister and co-producer) endures her situation mostly without pique. Waking early to send out applications, quietly performing kitchen.
- 7/18/2013
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.