What Comes Around

A couple interesting twists, but the acting by Summer Phoenix is so so bad that there is no chance for this movie to be taken seriously. Grace Van Dien tries and plays the role well enough. Kyle Gallner shines here. With better dialogue and acting, this could have been a really successful psychological thriller. As it stands though, it's a dark and twisty Hallmark movie. I have to keep writing about this movie, so I will mention that Anna's outfit choices are interesting. Maybe this is how some teens dress these days, but I saw a lot of outfits that read professor/librarian, which felt off. And that's all I have to say about that.

I happened to come across "What Comes Around" on Hulu. Having no idea what it was, I decided to check it out. It had a routine plot (a girl hooks up with a boy who isn't exactly what he seems), but a twist saved it from being a total washout. Even so, it seemed like not much happened in the movie. Not terrible - there were some intense scenes - but an hour later I felt like I hadn't gotten anything out of the movie.

It's probably worth mentioning the nepotism behind the movie: director Amy Redford is Robert's daughter, while star Grace Van Dien is Robert Mitchum's great-granddaughter. Summer Phoenix is the younger sister of River and Joaquin.

No pun intended - and yes I know the saying (goes around) - and I understand what the title is suggesting. You will too, when you see the movie. I was trying to figure out which direction this would take. It didn't exactly go the route I thought it would go - still a warning sign - or maybe multiple warning signs.

Grace van Dien, daughter of Casper, got quite famous - not so much because of her father, but because of Stranger Things - which I have not seen yet. But it is on my list. This is not exploitative by the way if that is something you are looking for - it is quite obvious from a certain point forward ... when the twist comes to play. And the cliches keep ... coming up too (no pun intended) .... it tries hard to give us food for thought ... and the actors try their best ... but it never really gets there (in my book) ... still good effort.

This movie is one of my favorite genres, and I wanted to like it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it enough that I don't regret spending 90 minutes watching it, but it could've been better.

Grace Van Dien did a fine job, as did Kyle Gallner. My biggest issue with this film is Summer Phoenix. The whole time she was in scene, it felt as though she was trying too hard to act, like she was in an acting class trying to convey emotion. It didn't feel natural like the others, and therefore it was incredibly distracting and at times, painful to watch. Because of this, the bond between Anna and her mother felt artificial, and it's an important part of the story. This movie definitely suffered because of her, in my opinion.

Other than that, the story was very good, well told, and it kept me tuned in. 6/10.

There is much to like with this movie. Grace Van Dien and the ever excellent Kyle Gallner are the two best reasons to watch this movie. Both are utterly convincing in their roles.

The direction and the editing, on the the other hand are, well, sub standard, is the polite way to say it. Some shots are dwelt on for too long and some of the scenes feel that they are 'acted' rather than having two people having a real conversation. The other actors are quite awful.

There is a nice little plot twist that comes in about half an hour into the movie that stops it falling into a schmaltzy Hallmark type movie.

Is it worth a watch? Kind of, but with some reservations.