Welcome to the Rileys, the sophomore effort by director Jake Scott (Plunkett and MacLeane) attempts an exploration of the divide that separates spouses when their children die tragically and how it can be mended. Unfortunately, the film retains the characters’ lackadaisical melancholy even after they themselves embrace life again by forcing a positive change.
This dramatic feature (opening exclusively at The Theatres at Canal Place) follows formerly happily married couple, Doug (James Gandolfini, HBO’s “The Sopranos”) and Lois (Melissa Leo, Frozen River, HBO’s “Treme”) Riley, who have grown apart since losing their teenage daughter eight years prior. Leaving his agoraphobic wife behind to go on a business trip to New Orleans, Doug meets 16-year-old runaway Mallory (Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga) and the two form a platonic bond. For Lois and Doug, what initially appears to be the final straw that will derail their relationship, turns out to be the inspiration they need to renew their marriage.
Director Scott (son of Ridley and nephew of Tony) succeeds at eliciting honest and harrowing performances out of his three leads (the only distraction being Gandolfini’s wavering Midwestern accent) but overpowers their intense presentations with gloomy attention to detail and morose melodrama.
The story itself speaks to those have trouble reconnecting to their loved ones after losing someone close to them, and the film would have been better served if it had highlighted the healing process with more visual recognition.
The seedy, death-like underbelly of New Orleans is realistically portrayed in Welcome to the Rileys to evoke the static evocation of the inert life the Riley’s exist in.
Tragically, its lethargy overshadows the entire worthy production and fails to extract the redemptive imagery the audience seeks. C+
New on Blu-ray/DVD
Legendary French New Wave filmmaker Alain Resnais’ (“Last Year at Marienbad”, “Hiroshima Mon Amour”) latest sex farce, tragic- comedy Wild Grass attempts to navigate the social protocols of giving and acknowledging thanks. In unique fashion, a simple gesture turns the lives of two Parisians upside down. The DVD bonus features are sparse and only include a featurette on the production designer. B+
TV’s most satisfying cerebral drama, “In Treatment: The Complete Second Season” makes its way to DVD without bonus features but the exemplary show stands out for itself in its 870 minutes. Once again, the story centers around Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) who continues to wrestle his own demons while trying to help four new therapy patients. A
In HBO Films’ Emmy Award winning You Don’t Know Jack, Al Pacino gives a masterly, understated performance as Jack Kevorkian in the story of one man’s obsession with challenging the rules by which Americans live and die. The performance-based feature directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man) also stars Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Danny Huston. The sole illuminating bonus feature gives accounts of Kevorkian by friends and family. A-
Though not as powerful as its predecessor “Band of Brothers,” the HBO mini-series “The Pacific” packs a powerful punch. The 10-part series focuses on the Americans soldiers in the Pacific Theater of WWII with harrowing moments of beauty and brutality. The transfer to Blu-ray is pristine and the bonus features are extensive and informative. A
Ari Silber is a Loyola MBA student. Before graduate school, he worked for nine years in the Los Angeles film industry, focusing on marketing, publicity and distribution.
Ari Silber can be reached at
