Review of The High Cost of Living (2011) by Jordan T — 17 Jun 2012

As a huge Zach Braff fan I was a little surprised High Cost of Living didn't get a wider release. It basically premiered in literally one or two theaters and some festivals, and thus few outside of Braff's fan base have heard about it, much less seen it. Braff is pretty exceptional in full on drama mode, even more dramatic than the Last Kiss and Garden State and without their moments of lighter charm to boot, and it's a strong role for him as a maturing actor. His main costar, Isabelle Blais, is not quite as good but still convincing as well, especially with what the script puts her through.

What the problem of the film is, and why it probably wasn't seen on a larger scale (besides there being a good chunk of it in French), is it's a little too indie for its own good. The general conceit of a man running over a pregnant woman in a hit and run, who then befriends and falls in love with her after she loses the child, is poorly contrived at worst or manipulatively heavy handed best. It would be very difficult to pull off for a veteran crew, and a near impossible task for a first-time writer-director. For their sake the actors make it work until it begins to break down towards the end, which of course has to be at least somewhat ambiguous because this is, after all, an independent. It also reminds me of Seven Pounds in some ways, in which a strong and unconventional central performance by a "star" had trouble overcoming the faulty storytelling, although at least Living never gets as emotionally overwrought. So despite some nice lead performances, the rest of the cast and skill behind the camera leave a lot to be desired, and while it does have some brilliant moments, as a whole it just can't quite fully sustain itself.