(rated R) Some of us know the pain and desperation we never overcome, in losing a loved one. Instead, we just learn to live with it. And often we fantasize that we could have our loved one back in any way possible. When Anna (Nicole Kidman) loses her husband Sean, she tries to go on. Fast forward ten years later, she’s to marry Joseph (Danny Huston) when a ten year old boy, also named Sean (Cameron Bright) arrives unannounced in her home, saying that he is her reincarnated husband. With its Edgar Allen Poe eerie lighting, a captivating yet depressing soundtrack and a theme reminiscent of “Ghost” meets “Somewhere In Time”, the movie covers all the bases. And then there’s the acting. Kidman’s face delivers such vulnerable hope and confusion, while Sean is innocent, yet at the same time convincing with his in-control performance. Lauren Bacall is perfectly cast as Kidman’s mother and deadpan matriarch, of their affluent upper-east-side family; and that’s where the best part of this movie lies – because the characters are from a sophisticated family, we see how this caliber of people might respond to such circumstances, compared to the usual average Joe types we meet in other thrillers. Kidman and Bright share union that is believable and hypnotic, penetrating our souls much the way “Lolita” did, with the same proper pace, that allows enough time for the audience to accept such an inappropriate situation. And in the end we learn, just as an unsettled soul can’t rest, neither can the living who lost them.
