I'm off work this week, which means I actually have time to watch things.

The first for the week was, appropriately enough, First Reformed. It's the newest from Paul Shrader, who wrote Taxi Driver, among other things.

The story is that a Protestant minister in a small town, played by Ethan Hawke (who is unrecognizable in the best possible way), is just sort of plodding. This isn't your standard, cliched "crisis of faith" film: it's written too well to devolve into that. Shrader (who both wrote and directed) knows how to make despair work without making it the whole point. And I think that's why it works. It's people who are dealing with stuff, not stuff that is playing people like puppets to express itself. The movie uses faith as part of the medium, as it's a big part of its characters' lives, but even then it's not the sole focus.

Cedric the Entertainer plays the pastor of the megachurch that sort of sponsors Hawke's glorified gift shop, and I was pleasantly surprised by the movie's avoiding making him into some Billy Graham stereotype. Instead, he gives the impression of someone who joined the clergy for all the right reasons and doesn't really know how he ended up in charge of this massive, wealthy organization. But because he's not sure how he got there, he feels like it's a precarious thing.

Hawke's routine is interrupted when one of his 5 or 6 parishoners (Amanda Seyfreid) asks for help with her husband. He's an extreme environmental activist who recently got out of jail, and is struggling with his own despair that arises out of his single-mindedness.

What follows is a break from everyone's torpor, and things are played subtly enough that decisions make sense without needing to be telegraphed. We understand why our pastor feels the way he does, and everyone involved seems to be trying their best to hold on to what they can. The ending was definitely not what I was expecting (so I'm leaving out any significant discussion of the plot here), and was something I had to think about some. But we're given enough in the lead up to it that it felt like I was trying to understand people's reasons, not a plot contrivance.

The way it's shot is particularly interesting. It's a little muted, but just barely, and the exterior scenes especially fit with the setting in upstate New York. The way shots are framed I especailly liked, with the camera often lingering on scenes rather than people, and often hold longer than we'd expect before a cut. I'm not sure if there's deeper meaning beyond the feeling it imparts, since I hate trying to pick everthing apart to find some potential "symbolism" (that may or may not have been intended). Sometimes the curtains are just blue.

Again, Ethan Hawke was the standout. He's given a lot to do but a lot of room in which to do it, and I really liked how he captures the character's feelings without wallowing. This isn't someone saying "look at me acting angsty!"

Definitely recommended.