Stillwater

Last night I finally had the opportunity to see Stillwater (I had plans to see it two different times over the weekend but I couldn't get myself motivated enough to follow through with them) and, even though it drags on a bit, I really enjoyed it.  Bill Baker (Matt Damon) is an Oklahoma roughneck who periodically travels to Marseilles to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin).  She went to France for a university study abroad program but has now been in prison for four years after being convicted of killing her girlfriend with circumstantial evidence during a high-profile and sensational trial (it obviously draws inspiration from the Amanda Knox case but the two stories are very different).  During his latest visit, Allison asks him to give a letter, written in French so he can't read it, to her lawyer which suggests that there might be DNA evidence to tie the murder to an Arab man named Akim (Adir Azougli) which will exonerate her.  However, her lawyer (Ann Le Ny) says that she cannot reopen the case based on hearsay and refuses to investigate.  Even though he is in over his head, he decides to stay in Marseilles and conduct an investigation himself with the help of Virginie (Camille Cottin), a woman staying in the room next to him at his hotel with her daughter Maya (Lilou Siauvaud), as a translator, guide, and possible love interest.  He goes to extraordinary lengths to prove his daughter’s innocence but will his actions destroy his newfound relationship with Virginie and Maya?  This movie really took me be surprise.  The narrative does involve an investigation into a murder (including a twist at the end that I predicted early on) with some interesting things to say about racial tension but I enjoyed it most when the story focused on rebuilding the damaged relationship between a father and a daughter.  I also enjoyed seeing Bill attempt to find a bit of redemption through his relationship with Maya as a way to atone for his failures with Allison.  Damon gives an incredibly affecting performance, one of his best, in an unsympathetic role and I was also really impressed by Cottin and Siauvaud (she received a lengthy standing ovation at Cannes).  The action slowly builds and builds, creating a palpable tension, but I feel like it gets bogged down when it returns to the murder mystery in the third act and my mind started to wander (it is a long movie).  It is not really the thriller that it is marketed to be but I would definitely recommend this movie because it is, ultimately, an intriguing character study with outstanding performances.