Return: Cannes Review

10:20 AM PDT 5/14/2011 by Todd McCarthy

The former "E.R." star is in virtually every shot of Liza Johnson's drama about a national reservist's difficult transition back into home life.

CANNES -- Another small-scale American indie about a vet returning home from the Middle East, Return has quiet virtues and the distinction of focusing closely on one particular woman’s difficulty readjusting to being a wife and mother. This first feature by Liza Johnson, an artist who has made five shorts, traps the viewer, along with its subject, in the drudgery of daily life and maintains the same low-key tone throughout. But its observational qualities do open a window on a female viewing exposure, which should translate into a nice festival career and limited specialized commercial and home viewing exposure.