Novalyne is surrounded by gossipy teacher pals. The couple, despite fantastic verbal gifts, don't speak their hearts or open their souls. And its power comes from what's repressed, the burning emotions beneath the chatty surface. The movie, written by Michael Scott Myers and directed by Dan Ireland, has the feel of experience recalled long afterward, in perspective. Writing is what they mostly talk about.
Writing is the center of their world, their obsession and their bond.
Sadly, when they edge toward lovemaking, they miss connections and fall back on old roles. Novalyne is too concerned with proprieties, too leery of Robert's free-thinking poses. Robert is too firmly lodged in his savage outsider persona, too emotionally entangled with his dying and possessive mother. Claudio Rocha's cinematography has a lush, elegiac quality. The score, by Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams, is wistfully lyrical.