Spring Forward

A quiet and simple but exceptionally absorbing character study about two everyday men at opposite ends of their working lives, Spring Forward stars Liev Schreiber as a young parolee trying to begin anew, with the nearly retired Ned Beatty as his reluctant mentor. Both actors give remarkable, understated performances in the film's seven seasonal vignettes that explore the mutual influence these two men have on each other's lives as they become close friends while working on assorted outdoor jobs on the town's public lands. Beginning on Schreiber's first day of work and ending on Beatty's last, the film boasts a resonantly symbolic story arc, and writer-director Tom Gilroy's modest, philosophical script touches on everything from spirituality and morality to sex, AIDS and finding a soul mate. A real sleeper that deserves word-of-mouth success. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)