KEY POINTS:
Alan Rickman isn't cut out to play a villain. His bad guy roles - the Sheriff of Nottingham to Kevin Costner's Robin Hood, say, or the German villain in the first Die Hard movie or the truly ridiculous turn in the upcoming Perfume - all rely on his beaky, malevolent countenance but they miss the self-knowing, world-weary irony that is the essence of his persona.
Director Evans harnesses that slightly self-mocking tone to great effect in this pungent drama which at times flirts with mawkishness but is finally both astringent and, occasionally, very funny in its treatment of a subject the movies are never funny about: autism.
Rickman plays Alex Hughes, who is both a man with a past and a man on a mission, driving through the snowy backblocks of Ontario. Accosted in a diner by the talkative, charmingly kooky hitchhiker Vivienne Freeman (Hampshire), he reluctantly agrees to give her a lift. When she is killed in an accident in which he is blameless, he emerges unscathed and, crippled by survivor guilt, searches out Vivienne's mother.
But the autistic Linda (Weaver) is less concerned at her daughter's death than at the fact that Alex apparently doesn't realise the importance of removing his shoes when he comes inside.
Through a complicated chain of circumstances, Alex decides to stay a few days and what unfolds is an immaculately assembled blend of psychological thriller, whimsical personal drama and finely nuanced smalltown comedy of manners.
Weaver's performance, as good as anything she's done, highlights just how showy and greedy Dustin Hoffman's turn was in the wildly overrated Rain Man.
Evans does a great job of evoking the synaesthetic sensory turmoil that constitutes her condition but, crucially, we are never invited to feel sorry for her because the gathering emotional tension is constantly dissipated by first-timer Angela Pell's great script.
"I know how you neurotypical people are obsessed with having friends," Linda says at one point.
In another scene, Alex accuses her of being unreasonable. "I'm autistic!" she reminds him.
"It's the same thing!" he shoots back.
It's this lightness of touch that elevates the film from a well-acted melodrama into something quite special. And Rickman's performance, too smart and self-effacing to be show-stealing, is largely responsible.
The sole flaw is a soppy and obtrusive soundtrack by Canadian indies Broken Social Scene. Otherwise, it's a cracker.
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire
Director: Marc Evans
Running time: 107 mins
Rating: M, contains offensive language
Screening: Rialto
