Review: Come Away (Sundance 2020) starring Angelina Jolie

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: Two siblings escape into a world of fantasy after their parents (David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie) find themselves on a downward spiral following a family tragedy.

REVIEW: You’ve got to wonder just who exactly COME AWAY is made for. According to the press release promoting it, the film is a “what if” story, as in what if Peter Pan and Alice (of Wonderland fame) were siblings living in an idyllic country home with their loving parents before plunging into their respective worlds of fantasy. I find that a highly misleading synopsis, as that’s not at all what Brenda Chapman’s film is. Rather, it’s more like Richard Donner’s RADIO FLYER in that it uses fantasy as an escape from very real trauma, although it’s all coated with a healthy dose of whimsy, resulting in a film that’s too slow and ponderous for kids, but then much too juvenile for adults.

The result is a well-intentioned, handsomely mounted mess. Chapman is an animation legend, with credits going all the way back to WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. She co-directed THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, steered the creative team on many Pixar classics, and directed BRAVE, all of which adds up to a supremely talented artist. That said, like many animation legends before her, she stumbles in the jump to live-action, with such a film subject to limitations, such as budget as plausibility, that animation is not. Thus, COME AWAY is a mess, albeit one filled to the brim with talented people.

Probably the buzziest members of the cast are David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie – the latter of whom’s appearances in front of the camera seem rarer and rarer these days. They play the well-meaning, kindly, if naive and ultimately self-destructive parents of our young duo. It all takes place in a fantasy version of Victorian-era England, with roaming bands of street urchins plucked out of Dickens and evil aunts eager to steal the kids and force them into a life of – GASP – wealth and privilege.

The kids, Keira Chansa and Jordan A. Nashm are game playing this kind of heightened reality, but they aren’t served too well but what’s ultimately a very dull fable. It’s only really brightened up by some welcome menace courtesy of “The Wire’s” Clarke Peters and David Gyasi (of INTERSTELLAR), who arguably deliver the film’s most entertaining performances as father and son gangsters who tangle with Oyelowo and have a (predictable) connection to the family. Michael Caine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw have tiny roles that add up to little more than cameos (each has only a minute or two of screen time), while John Debney contributes a score that works overtime to establish a sense of wonder the film itself if never really able to pull off.

The last act is especially problematic, with it going all-in on fantasy, leading to a frustrating and inconsistent conclusion that seems to be at odds with all that came before. By this point though, young audiences will likely have already lost interest, in that it’s too slow to entertain a generation that’s growing up on 21st century Disney. Next to those movies, this feels archaic. Again, it’s handsomely mounted and made with passion and skill, but ultimately it’s a film that likely won’t work for either kids or their parents, making one wonder why they bothered at all. It’s a nice try but definitely a film that feels bound to become a footnote in the careers of all involved.

Review: Come Away (Sundance 2020) starring Angelina Jolie

BELOW AVERAGE

5