Deeply

Kirsten Dunst's baby-blues are featured front and center on the box of this The Secret of Roan Inish-ish melodrama about a grief-stricken young woman (Julia Brendler) whisked off to a remote Nova Scotia isle--and hopefully to recovery--by her concerned single mom. There she is befriended by a craggy storyteller (Lynn Redgrave), who recounts a romantic old fable about a salty, pipe-smoking gamine (Kirsten Dunst) and the aristocratic son (Trent Ford) of a British Admiral, a fable that serves as a catharsis for the young woman's own losses. It must have been quite a coup for the film's producers to secure Dunst's participation for such a modestly budgeted indie, but, ironically, Deeply is pretty much sunk by it. The usually reliable young actress is seriously miscast here, with an accent as uncategorizable as it is inconsistent. Further compounding problems is debut writer-director Sheri Elwood's preoccupation with the Dunst-centered flashbacks, which end up robbing the initial story's conclusion of much of its emotional impact. Nevertheless, the film does boast a compelling narrative, a poignant performance by German thespian Brendler, and a picturesque setting, all of which help pass the time reasonably well. An optional purchase. (S. C. Sickles)