Arcadia

Underappreciated actor John Hawkes shines in this road movie about a flawed family man driving his three kids on a coast-to-coast journey for initially obscure reasons. Tom (Hawkes) is largely an upbeat dad with a mercurial streak that surfaces when his children begin to suspect that something isn't quite right about their car trip. Tom claims that a new job in California beckons and that life will be perfect once they arrive, but his behavior along the way suggests that there is something darker going on, especially regarding their absent, off-screen mother. Daughters Greta (Ryan Simpkins) and Caroline (Kendall Toole), and son Nat (Ty Simpkins), increasingly feel the heat of Tom's growing anxiety, as well as his eccentric (even paranoid) notions about the law, restaurant service, and even the cost of entering a national park. Writer-director Olivia Silver brings a sure hand to this family odyssey, expertly modulating the tone from cheerful confidence to disillusionment to rage, resignation, and acceptance. Recommended. (T. Keogh)