Retro Review: “Come and Find Me” | Surprisingly good Romance/Thriller with Aaron Paul
Given the relatively low IMBD rating (there I am, at it again about IMDB scores) I was reticent about watching Zack Whedon’s middle market thriller starring our favorite former Meth chemist, Aaron Paul, along with Annabelle Wallis.
But, I was unable to find anything other to watch, one evening, and decided to give it a go. Despite a rickety screen story and Paul’s somewhat one-note acting, “Come and Find Me” is actually not bad.
Well, not terrible…
Techno/Spy/Romance/Thriller?
Perhaps one complaint about the film is that it may not know what it wants to be when it grows up. Its a Romance! Its a Thriller! There are (Canadian) Spies involved!
Yep…
Paul plays David, a weary Gen Y inhabitant of a weary-looking Los Angeles, who has the perhaps questionable good fortune, one day, to meet Claire, played by Annabelle Wallis. Sean Stiegemeier’s camera work (well, his Lighting) shows us a washed out, quasi-Bohemian neighborhood in a washed-out part of LA. Meant to underscore David’s state of mind? Perhaps.
Claire is a bright spot, with her sophisticated interests, and mysterious sources of income. The two fall for one another (or, in retrospect, David falls for Claire) and they seem to be humming along just fine, until one day Claire just disappears.
Poof.
Then it gets weird
This film doesn’t have a Twist Ending, or a lot of well-earned twists, so it isn’t a spoiler to say that the main plot line here is that David falls for Claire, Claire vanishes, and David just has to find her. The title is “Come and Find Me”, after all.
With that kind of set up, Act II is poised to be pretty interesting. What lengths is David willing to go to find Claire? Even though almost right away he encounters some serious resistance in the form of a nasty criminal element that are also looking for her. Well, he really loves her, so he will brave much to try to find out not only where she is, but along the way, who she really is.
Because apparently her name isn’t Claire. And she isn’t some hip gal from LA.
Canadian Complications
Again, I didn’t say this was a Tony Scott film.
David’s trek takes him to Vancouver, British Columbia. Which just happens to have great film incentives, so, there’s that. He tracks down a man who apparently is or was in a relationship with Claire, as he continues to try to divine the mystery.
And here after a few exciting car and foot chases, David finally encounters a shadowy Canadian Intelligence Agency, in this case represented by Garrett Dillanhunt’s John Hall. A short aside, if you have ever watched the outstanding Sitcom “The Mindy Project” (available on Hulu) you might remember Dillanhunt’s memorable turn as a horny Ob-Gyn with a speech impediment. Hy-sterical.
Chewing the Scenery
Here Hall corrals David, threateningly on a high hillside above a beautiful Canadian Rockies exterior shot (very low cost of production, I trust) and finally explains who and what Claire is. Or was. Is she still alive?
No spoilers, of course. It is worth watching “Come and Find Me” to find out. Did I say the Canadian scenery is gorgeous?
According to JustWatch “Come and Find Me” is available on Cinemax/AppleTV (huh?) for free, or for rent or sale in HD on several popular streaming platforms.
