November

Something akin to a dialed-down Darren Aronofsky thriller—with a lot of David Lynch thrown in—November dives headlong into the unraveling, despondent psyche of a woman (played with frazzled intensity by Courteney Cox-Arquette) whose boyfriend was killed in a convenience store robbery as she waited in a car outside. Employing feverish flashes of iconic imagery to unsettling effect (as Aronofsky did in Pi and Requiem for a Dream), director Greg Harrison builds a nonlinear storyline (like Lynch's Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive) of seemingly conflicting memories that keeps circling back to that fateful day, with events taking different shapes each time. Harrison (Groove) and screenwriter Benjamin Brand weave flashbacks of Cox's troubled romance with the dead boyfriend (the underrated James LeGros, Scotland, PA) into their outwardly chaotic timeline, which are then deftly used to help slowly peel away some layers of confusion while applying new layers elsewhere. Those who crack the puzzle too early will likely not get caught up in the distorted discombobulating ambiance, but those who give themselves over to Harrison's compelling machinations will be rewarded with a superbly unnerving mystery. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one with director Greg Harrison and screenwriter Benjamin Brand; the other by Harrison and director of photography Nancy Schreiber), a conversation with Lew Baldwin, composer/visual effects (9 min.), an alternate opening sequence (4 min.), photo galleries, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine film.] (R. Blackwelder)