The Eyes Have It

At long last, The Avengers has brought Joss Whedon the notoriety we fans have long felt he deserved. But since long before even any of us knew he was, he's been carrying around a story idea that only now has seen the light of day. Since the early 1990s, Whedon has been periodically updating (and failing to get made) a script called In Your Eyes. In 2014, he finally had the clout to do it.

In Your Eyes is a light romance film, a boy-meets-girl, falling-in-love tale that in many ways presents no differently than the many film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels. But since it springs from the mind and pen of Joss Whedon, you know there has to be a twist in there somewhere. In this case, it's that the movie skips the "boy meets girl" part. Rebecca Porter, living in New Hampshire, and Dylan Kershaw, living in New Mexico, have never met face to face. But they have shared a telepathic connection for their entire lives -- an ability to see brief flashes of the other's life, though the other's eyes. Suddenly, they're beginning to gain control over this connection, and with it the ability to speak to one another. Though they've lived very different lives, this supernatural connection starts to pull them together.

Joss Whedon made the interesting decision to relinquish this apparent passion project to another director, the little-known Brin Hill. It's likely that scheduling was the primary reason for this, with Whedon having his hands full with the next Avengers film. Still, it probably works out best for the movie itself, as it helps shed some of the expectations that the movie be "Whedon-y." Very quickly, you realize it isn't going to be. Compared to most of his past work, the sentiment here is more overt, the dialogue less witty, and the course of the plot more predictable -- and all deliberately so.

But if the story itself is only a small twist on a familiar form, the movie as a whole manages to rise a cut above thanks to solid casting. The couple at the heart of the story is compelling. Zoe Kazan plays Rebecca, and after Ruby Sparks, this isn't her first unconventional romance. She's vulnerable without being a pushover, soft without being unlikeable. In many ways, she embodies the qualities of one of Joss Whedon's go-to actresses, Amy Acker. For Dylan, the film casts Michael Stahl-David, probably best known from Cloverfield. He plays a screw-up who stays lovable despite being rather oafish.

The film is suprisingly missing any recurring Whedon actors, but you may recognize a few of the supporting players from other places. Mark Feuerstein (star of Royal Pains) walks the tightrope well as Rebecca's husband, playing the character in a way that's understandable even though you know as the audience that his role is to be an obstacle to the romance. Steve Harris (veteran of The Practice and Awake) has a similar plot-complication-device role as Dylan's parole officer, but he injects a bit of fun into it.

Really, the performances are all a good summary of the film itself. There's nothing revolutionary about this movie, but it's a well-done little twist on a generally tried-and-true formula. I give it a B+. It's probably not a film I should tell "any fan of Joss Whedon" to see, but any one who does will probably find it pleasant enough.