Return Review
By David Kempler
No Point to This Return
Liza Johnson's "Return" takes the well-worn "young man comes home from war as damaged, unable-to-adjust, wiser, crazy, and/or tortured" and spins it into a modern-day version, with the female returning to the male. Kelli (Linda Cardellni) is the one returning from a tour of duty. Her husband, Mike (Michael Shannon) has been holding down the homestead along with their young children. Predictably, her life and the marriage unravel almost immediately.
Kelli displays no visible emotions, except for possibly a flat affect. She is glad to see the family but that lasts for only a day or two. She comes to the realization that her job no longer holds excitement and adventure for her. Considering that she staples some sort of metallic objects together and pushes around a cart, it's a wonder that she didn't go crazy before she shipped out. Are we really supposed to be surprised at her realization? She also quickly comes to the conclusion that those she once considered her good friends are as mentally stimulating as stapling metal to metal.
And then there is her husband. Mike is presented as Joe Average. Nice enough. Bright enough. Good enough dad. But geez, he is sort of dull, too. Wasn't he dull before she left? This does nothing to dampen the enthusiasm put towards him by another young lady in their small town. Mike and Kelli dissolve. Mike moves in with the other woman. Neither Mike nor Kelli is the least bit perturbed about this turn of events. They operate like machines in slots moving down their inevitable paths. Everything about "Return" feels robotic.
I think that Liza Johnson was shooting for understated, but when you border on "Stepford Wives" emotion you better be aiming for satire or dark comedy. Ms. Johnson is not doing that. She plays it as low-volume drama. The problem is that it is drama minus tension, which equals nothing, and the resulting audience satisfaction is only slightly more than that.
