Lawrence Kasdan’s 11th film as a director but his first since 2003’s Dreamcatcher, Darling Companion falls victim to an ambling, free-range focus (or lack thereof), which mistakes authenticity for dramatic engagement. A story about emotional fissure and reconnection built around the search for a missing dog, the pleasantly inoffensive ensemble dramedy suffers from a dearth of insight or elevating banter.



Co-written by Kasdan and his wife Meg, and based on an actual experience the pair had, Darling Companion has a lived-in vibe — its visual presentation feels in some respects like a L.L. Bean catalogue come to life, marked by nice outdoor footage and warm autumnal hues in general — but never quite fully takes shape. The basic likeability of much of the cast — particularly Richard Jenkins, who exudes a rumpled charm as a guileless retiree comfortable in his own skin — helps mitigate some but not all of the movie’s slack. Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline deliver somewhat shopworn performances, and reductive cutaways in particular undercut the convincingness of Kline’s character. For the full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (Sony Pictures Classics, PG-13, 103 minutes)