The Yellow Handkerchief Review
By David Kempler
Yellow Handkerchief Belongs To Redmayne
"The Yellow Handkerchief" is an on-the-road movie but it's different enough to seem fresh. The group is an unlikely threesome: Brett Hanson (William Hurt) is an ex-con recently released from prison, trying to figure out what to do about May (Maria Bello), the woman from his past. Martine (Kristen Stewart) is a teenage girl at the onset of rebellion and sexuality. Gordy (Eddie Redmayne) is a teenage boy who is a bag of nervous energy and social ineptitude. None of the three knew each other before they headed off together, all with very different agendas.
Set against post-Katrina Louisiana, director Udayan Prasad and cinematographer Chris Menges do a nice job of evoking a beautiful view of the surroundings, which serves to enhance what is essentially an actor's film. While Hurt does his usual fine work, the rest of the cast keeps pace with him, except for young Mr. Redmayne. His performance is the main attraction here. Almost every scene that he appears in becomes his. Your eyes are always drawn to him. This "kid's" got a major future.
As the road show takes twists and turns, Prasad reveals more and more of what lays beneath the facades of everyone until they reveal themselves to each other, and more importantly to themselves.
The ending is a bit overly melodramatic but you don't feel cheated because until it loses a little bit of steam it is an excellent multiple-character study. Just accept that you have seen very solid acting performances and when the end rolls around, you can either take out your handkerchief to dab away the manipulated tears, or leave it in your pocket and observe some of the sniffling around you.
