Drake Doremus‘ first hit, Like Crazy, was a bit of a divisive item when it landed in 2011: some praised a “realistic” approach to the onscreen romance between handsome boy and pretty girl, but an equal contingent detected a narrow, shallow, even cynically calculated spin meant to tug at the heartstrings without wit or measure. No matter where you fall, its status as a Sundance hit need not surprise anyone.
This past January, the writer-director made his return to Park City with Breathe In, a romantic drama which heads down some darker roads than the prior feature, as its trailer will display. It goes like so: Guy Pearce plays a high school music teacher, Felicity Jones — Doremus‘ Like Crazy star — puts in a turn as the English exchange student living with he and his wife (Amy Ryan), and we, the audience, are given a front-row view to all the tensions which mount from there. But darkness does not equal maturity, and — despite this being simply a glance — a number of the moments littered throughout hint at something overly melodramatic. It’d be nice to get a surprise out of this one, though, so here’s hoping all its presented threads can cohere in some meaningful way; Kyle MacLachlan should help, too.
The trailer can be seen below (via The Guardian):
Synopsis:
As summer turns to fall, music teacher Keith Reynolds privately reminisces about his days as a starving artist in the city. While his wife, Megan, and daughter, Lauren, look forward to Lauren’s final year of high school, Keith clings to those evenings he’s asked to sub as a cellist with a prestigious Manhattan symphony. When Megan decides the family should host foreign exchange student Sophie, the British high school senior soon rekindles an impetuous aspect of Keith’s personality.
Breathe In will first arrive in the U.K. on July 19; a U.S. release has not been dated.
Based on this footage, how would you say Doremus is picking up from his breakout hit?