“Sharp Corner” tells the story of a man, his wife and their son, who were living in the city and wanted to escape to the quietude of a house in the country. The price was favorable. On their first night, they find out why. The house is maybe a hundred meters away from a two-way road that slices through tall fields. There’s a sign before the turn warning drivers that it’s sharp. But the sign is obscured by vegetation, and even if it wasn’t, speeding drivers might still be unable to slow down in time.

The initial collision deeply traumatizes the family. After that, there is a second one. This corner seems like an entire family’s worst nightmare. Every single time a crash, or even a near crash, occurs, it only serves to further tear the family apart, erasing any semblance of safety, warmth, and comfort that a home must provide. The father, Josh McCall, progressively becomes more and more obsessed with the idea of crash training so that at the very least any wreck survivors can be saved. Cobie Smulders (The mother) Rachel tries her utmost to withstand the turmoil, however once she reaches her breaking point, she starts forcing to put the house up for sale and relocate else were. Finally, William Kosovic as Max is the son to start off the story as a perceived adorable child. A kid lost in the realm of privilege. While he is sweet, and his behavior adorable for the most part, he is in fact, a little spoiled. Sadly, all of the domestic violence leads to him recreating crash scenarios using toys.

It’s understandable that you might think, “This movie sounds good, but no thanks.” This film certainly goes to some dark places—especially when the camera zooms in on Josh and begins to focus on his transformation, or lack thereof, throughout the movie. Wanting to save everyone is an undeniably human impulse, one often seen in characters who, despite possessing obvious flaws, have redeeming traits that make them—under certain circumstances—heroes. In Josh's case, the major hurdle he had to overcome was an all too real need to devise plans tailored to prevent or respond to disasters—such as attending CPR classes, researching the purchase of a training dummy, and even going to the funeral of one of the victims.

"Sharp Corner" pries into Josh’s transformation with a blend of sympathy and cold blooded observation, and so too the narrative showed an understanding rather than a dismissal of the male figure in front of the lens. He does not feel like a case study or a modern man dilemma, but just a dude going through something horrible. The movie explores various themes, one being what must be done with the understanding that we and everyone around us will die, and there is no way of predicting it or stopping it.

This unique role illustrates why Hugh Foster, one of today’s breathtaking actors, remains so astounding. The violence associated with Foster’s persona makes him an immediate suspect in murders depicting wrathful exertion (Alpha Dog), tormented executor (Leave No Trace), supremely protective for reasons unknown to the character himself (Galveston), or even avenging angel to put the final nail on the coffin of justified rage (Hell or High Water). A glance towards the character’s motive reveals the wish to heal rather than the urge to damage or kill, and that changes everything.

In stark contrast to the impression Foster gives, which is aplausive, he is absolutely convincing as a man who would never throw a punch in his life, even after all of the crime thrillers. To begin with, let us examine Josh. He possesses a double chin, slouches, and walks with an unnatural gait. He is going bald on the crown of his head. His speech is soft, almost whiny. He Sean’s unnerving calmness cannot help but appear judgmental. A part of his personality makes one think that he is self-regarding even when, through all of the crime thrillers, he actually isn’t. His manners can be interpreted as manipulative, and at times, they certainly are.

The boy's death affects Josh deeply and he is disturbed by it. The dinner party includes all couples from the old neighborhood and Josh shares the story of the shrine constructed at the curve where the first crash was witnessed. Guess what? We caught him browsing social media during work hours. Oh, and Rachel ends up scolding him after the dinner party. So she thinks he was being smug for trying to take the high moral ground during a light-hearted dinner talk by diving into some dark monologue. She calls him smug. Is he, though? Or does he just rub people the wrong way? 

Smulders matches Foster’s exactness and focus, though her retreat begins alongside Josh's extreme, manic behaviors and his unfortunate choices. With that said, it’s not her fault he feels so terrible because he is concealing everything except EMT training equipment from her. Josh’s manic decisions are making Rachel love him less. She loves him, but is beginning to believe life with this version of him might not be feasible. It’s a struggle cluttered with bad decisions and maddening work choices while trying to parent their son, and it cannot continue like this.

Will they break apart? These knowns and unknowns are all defined or hinted at, but the viewer needs to pay attention and is never told everything in even therapy scenes. 

Words do not say everything, and are shown, at times hearing some of the most believable, specific and remarkable husband and wife exchanges. In conversations that do happen, no one tries to be too eloquent or clever. The people in the movie sound like real people. Their talking style is along the lines of the "room temperature" scale, where they set to neutral unless things becomes extremely dire. Yelling is kept at a minimum. The son is the focus. Most importantly, they want to nurture him in a calm, soft, gentle, loving environment.

But while their environment is peaceful, their dialogue seems to contain passive aggressive jabs. For example, when Josh picks Rachel up from work and she’s a few minutes late, he proceeds to suggest it might be “time to bite the bullet and purchase a second car,” to which she instantly replies, “Are you saying that because I’m a few minutes late?” It’s true Ross doesn’t swear, but doesn’t he claim that his excuse is equally valid? It feels quite apparent he does know that, indeed, he is.

Besides the detailed examination of a family disintegrating, the documentary “Sharp Corner” stands out due to its sophisticated compositions which include every piece of information in a frame at varying distances and lets us choose where to look. The camera is in motion, albeit slowly, for a specific reason: to show or hide something, or to create tension. Godfrey's cinematography has the feeling of a circa 70s American New Wave. It is always rich and clear, even in dark scenes, but never overbearingly beautiful. The purpose of every shot is to make you feel as if you inhabit this tiny world. The geometry of the shots and the use of silent cues are so exact, and alterable repetitions are so purposeful that you start feeling as if you resided in that house, knowing when things are fine and when there is trouble. The sound design is exceptional as it uncovers new insights while the story is told. After a while, the speed of the approaching vehicle allows you to identify the sound as going too fast.

Stephen McKeon’s score starts with a misty sadness, builds up to a deep sorrow, and then capstones it with a grandiose lament. The horns come in. They become increasingly powerful and more dire as tension mounts. In more or less the same way, Howard Shore’s scores for David Cronenberg and Carter Burwell’s scores for the Coen Bros also hit us. What is onscreen, at least some of the time painfully misguided, feels small in the grand scheme of things, yet the music, at times absurdly, finds great beauty in the twisted elements of life, shifting perspective so that it becomes an ironic farewell—a requiem of sorts, for those whose lives have been contorted and broken, through the unrelenting hand of fate, self-inflicted wounds, or both.

Do you remember seeing "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? It's Spielberg's film about everyday Midwesterners who get tormented by UFO encounters and visions of miracles. If you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to do so. “Sharp Corners” would make an odd but strangely captivating pair with this film for deep reasons that extend beyond the fact that Foster and Dreyfuss share some eerily strong features. Some of the themes in both movies focus on an individual having something extraordinary occur to them multiple times and going on to become so engrossed in responding to it that it becomes an all-consuming endeavor. Roy works on sculptures to depict the visions he has mentally, while Josh enrolls in a lifesaving course, obsessively performing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth. Both men fervently wait all night long for the lights they anticipate to appear at the bend in the road.

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