An unsentimental journey
In Down River, director loads the emotional food processor and lets the cameras roll
It feels like Helen Shaver channels the ghost of Babz Chula for 90 minutes straight in Ben Ratner’s latest film, Down River. A multi- pronged story inspired by Chula, the longtime Vancouver actor and coach who became Ratner’s mentor and friend before passing away in 2010 after a long battle with cancer, Down River takes us into the life of Pearl ( Shaver) and three of her young protégés.
Fawn ( Gabrielle Miller) is an aspiring actress with boyfriend issues because she won’t commit to having a baby. Aki ( Jennifer Spence) is a painter with low self- esteem, and Harper ( Colleen Rennison) is the selfabsorbed frontwoman for a band that’s about to break.
Every one of these young women rely on Pearl’s words of wisdom to get by, and Pearl seems to take great pleasure in being the accessible pill to cure their ills. It gives her purpose and a sense of connection, but even the oracle is at loose ends when she’s diagnosed with a terminal condition.
The story is minimal, but Ratner squeezes a pound of greasy dramatic pastrami between the dry slices of rye by keeping the estrogen levels high and the punches low. When the women in this movie have arguments, they register on the Richter scale. When they love, it’s with passion — and sometimes, a little self- loathing.
These women have edges, and they are sharp, which means Ratner can create scenes by simply loading the emotional food processor and turning the camera on. His foursome of female talents slices, dices, purées and makes julienne fries from a basic potato of plot.
Whether it’s Miller’s ability to find the quiet, stubborn strength in her waify vegetarian ingenue, or Rennison’s surrender to a completely selfish and somewhat loathsome diva, the women on screen articulate their characters’ inner conflicts with delicate touches.
The camera is always a friendly presence, the quiet pal who silently listens without judgment, and it serves the film extremely well.
Even when the dilemmas feel a little stock and the action clichéd, Ratner’s creative team finds a worthy workaround. They graciously steer clear of the grand revelations and stick with the small stuff that ends up becoming the collection of seconds that define our existence.
At the heart of this emotional success is Shaver, who takes Ratner’s solid script and eats it whole. The veteran actress digests every scrap of suggestion, and every well- penned line to make it feel like it’s coming from the inside — which is why the movie works at a gut level.
A fitting dramatic tribute to a queen of drama, Ratner’s movie finds real feeling without being sentimental.