Water Under the Bridge Movie Review

Water Under the Bridge starts with enigmatic promise: Jake O'Connor (Scott Cooper, the bastard child of Ben Affleck and Ethan Hawke) returns to San Francisco after an extended absence, revisiting a past that involves a dead friend, an alcoholic mother (Theresa Russell), and a father that might be the culprit in both scenarios.

Before long, Jake's got a job and an apartment, and he's romancing his single-mom landlord (Gabrielle Anwar) while making inroads with his old family and trying to exorcise those demons.

Alas, writer-director Clark Brigham's inexperience comes through, as the last half-hour of the film consists of a series of whispered soliloquies, one from every major and minor character we've spent the last hour barely getting to know. And frankly, none of these characters, with the possible exception of Anwar's, is worth knowing at all: Jake is probably the worst of all, an annoying drunk and, for the most part, a selfish bastard.

The DVD includes a making-of featurette.

Aka Save It for Later.