Causeway

by Julian Spivey

Photo: Apple Studios

Director: Lila Neugebauer
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence & Brian Tyree Henry 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour & 32 minutes

“Causeway,” directed by Lila Neugebauer, is a story of getting your life back on track after trauma and features two of the best acting performances of the year from Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry.

The film opens with an extended scene of rehab undergone by Lynsey (Lawrence), a U.S. soldier, who was injured during her tour in Afghanistan when the vehicle she was riding in hit an I.E.D. The rehab is hard, but it’s soon made clear that it’s not near as hard for her as having to return to her home in New Orleans, with a distant mother and imprisoned brother. All she wants is to be cleared so she can return to active duty and avoid the monotony and aimlessness of her life at home.

When the family truck breaks down Lynsey meets James (Henry), a mechanic, and the two form a quick friendship. It’s not known at the beginning, but you quickly realize the two’s bond is formed via shared trauma. James lost one of his legs in a car accident that killed his nephew and left him estranged from his sister.

“Causeway” is a simple story. It’s told through Lynsey’s perspective and features numerous conversations, most of them with James, throughout the film. It’s the kind of movie many might find boring, but I’ve always found it interesting when a film can take a lot of dialogue and a small cast and make it work. It works in this case because of the supreme acting talents of Lawrence and Henry.  

“Causeway” sees Lawrence return to a small, indie film for the first time since she was pretty much discovered as a major acting talent in director Debra Granik’s 2010 film “Winter’s Bone,” for which she received her first Academy Award nomination at just 20 years old. Personally, I think her performance in “Causeway” and the movie itself are even better than that one – though it seems at this point Lawrence would be a longshot for an Oscar nomination for the role.

Lawrence completely enters the performance of an injured vet dealing with the trauma of returning to a home she never quite felt loved in as much as the trauma of the injury itself. It’s such a naturalistic performance showing why Lawrence is one of the best of her generation.

For years I’ve enjoyed Henry’s performance as often put upon rapper Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles in the terrific FX dramedy series “Atlanta,” which just wrapped up its four-season run in November. Henry showed in that series how excellent of a naturalistic actor he could be, and that talent certainly transfers over to “Causeway” too. His character of James is affable, but clearly suffering from PTSD and depression from his life-altering accident.

Lynsey and James need one another, but not in the “they’re definitely going to hook up” aspect that would’ve been so easy for the film to fall into. They just get each other. They can help each other cope with the tragedies experienced in their lives. The chemistry between the two actors is easy to watch. You could watch these characters having hard-life conversations over a beer and some weed and not tire of it. Lawrence and Henry truly carry this film, so if you want to see two of today’s best showing off their acting chops “Causeway” is definitely for you.

You can stream “Causeway” on AppleTV+.