I listen to the voices in my head and check out the romantic fantasy In Your Eyes

The second production to come from Joss Whedon’s Bellwether Pictures (following last year’s “Much Ado About Nothing”), “In Your Eyes” is a modest, sweet, gently paced romance which may ultimately be more interesting as an experiment in motion picture production and distribution than for its storyline or performances.

Not that both the story and performances aren’t good, and its credit to director Brin Hill and leads Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahl-David that they are able to generate such palpable chemistry given they spend so little screen time physically together.

On opposite sides of the country and worlds apart, two people find they share an intimate and inexplicable connection. Rebecca (Zoe Kazan) is fading away as the taken-for-granted wife of a driven and successful older Doctor while ex-convict Dylan (Michael Stahl-David) is trying to make a fresh start despite the lack of faith shown by his parole worker. Once they become aware of each other through a mysterious metaphysical connection, friendship blossoms into romance as they find solace in each other.

It takes the film a little while to find its feet but once Rebecca and Dylan are consciously aware of each other, the romance takes over and carries the film through. For a Joss Whedon script, it’s not as polished and clever as you might expect and there’s little of his trademark sharply witty repartee. It does, however, sustain its central conceit well and concentrates on making the viewer part of the burgeoning, secret relationship between Rebecca and Dylan. This focus does render most of the supporting characters somewhat two dimensional and you’ll struggle to feel sympathy for Rebecca’s cold and aloof husband or her gossipy ‘friends’ while Dylan’s surroundings are sketched in even broader strokes.

The cause of the connection is never explained but you don’t feel cheated by the absence of a cause although the overall impression is that this is a story and script that, while it works fine, would have benefitted from being refined and polished for a bit longer. Director Brin Hill does a superb job at juggling the two competing settings and making sure the story remains easily followed and the easy pace doesn’t slacken into something more soporific but “In Your Eyes” lacks that certain bite we’ve come to expect from the “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” scribe.

in your eyes review
Score 6/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Disney’s Descendants 3 (2019) Review

Disney's Descendants 3 (2019) Review

Third time's the charm for this twee tweenage franchise Disney’s Descendants movies are big deals in the Craggus household, at least in the under-10 demographic where this latest instalment has been awaited with an eagerness that was only surpassed by me in relation to “Avengers...

Game Of Moans

Game Of Moans

When you play the Game Of Moans, you either whine or you derp. They say Misery loves company and right now, Annie Wilkes has a lot of it as we hear the familiar refrain of disgruntled, entitled fan[atics] flinging their shit at the walls over the fact that “Game Of Thrones” – “Game Of...

Hogfather (2006) Review

Hogfather (2006) Review

Happy Hogswatch everyone! Adapting Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels is no small task, but Sky's 2006 adaptation of Hogfather manages to capture much of the wit, whimsy, and philosophical depth that makes the source material beloved. Over the course of two feature-length episodes...

The Haunting (1999) Review

The Haunting (1999) Review

Excess FX mean this haunted house lacks spirit. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a perfectly chilling psychological ghost story gets body-snatched by a bunch of CGI effects and a complete misunderstanding of subtlety, look no further than The Haunting (1999). This remake of the...

Through The Valley Of Shadows

Through The Valley Of Shadows

Yea, though I sat Through The Valley Of Shadows, I will hear no more of time crystals: for thou art peak Discovery; thy plot and thy writing staff they discomfit me. *SPOILERS* Kicking off what seems to be a loose three-part season finale, "we"Through The Valley Of Shadows" starts...

Stranger Things Season 3

Stranger Things Season 3

ʍǝıʌǝᴚ 3 uosɐǝS sƃuıɥ⊥ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇS After the copy and paste approach to an underwhelming second season of the Duffer Brothers 80s sci-fi homage, a new tactic was desperately required to freshen up Netflix’s major USP to prevent stagnation. The good news is that the show’s creators haven’t...

People Of Earth

People Of Earth

Home is no longer where the heart is for Star Trek Discovery. *SPOILERS* While “People Of Earth” may start out in typical “Star Trek: Discovery” fashion, with a massive exposition dump in one of Burnham’s trademark interminable personal logs, summarising the series so far and dropping...

Perpetual Infinity

Perpetual Infinity

Mum's the word on a tautologically titled episode of Star Trek: Discovery. *SPOILERS* After the tawdry torture porn of last week's denouement, "Perpetual Infinity" opens with a flashback to Burnham’s happy childhood where this exceptionally gifted and inquisitive child was apparently...