DIVERGENCE

A moving story of loss and love
This is a marvelous film from a young independent film maker. I especially thought the work of Traci Ann Wolfe as the young woman so desolate over her loss as to contemplate suicide was especially moving. The music marvelously set the mood of the piece and the locations were very realistic. I believe this movie was made on a very small budget but it was hard to tell from the quality of the work.

Unique & risky first-time director film
This is supposed to be a performance film, but I found it to be stronger in the environment themed category. That being a film made up of moods set by the content of the surroundings being filmed, as I felt the performances were too weak, painfully overdone and visibly forced at times.

It tells a story of a wounded soldier temporarily staying Stateside until he gets cleared for going active again. He houses on the Jersey shoreline next to a grieving widow, all whilst he partakes in a shallow fling with the real estate agent who got him his place. There are plenty of shots containing shoreline, ocean views, birds and the local fauna. The remainder of the scenes contain average to forced portrayals of the people around our lead, who manages to be convincing as the war ravaged, PTSD-type soldier.

The DVD contains some thankfully deleted scenes and alternate ending, a making-of that decently covers the background of filming, a commentary and assorted pics/trailers...

Beautiful, Sublte and "Grown-Up" Film
Divergence is a lovely, beautifully-photographed film written, directed and performed with an unusual level of confidence.

Rather than detail the plot, which has been covered in other comments, I'd love to share some of the details that made the movie such a pleasure:

*Haunting, captivating and mature performances by all of the lead actors. Tracy Ann Wolf's "Clare" (who I figured out 1/2 way through the movie reminds me equally of Joely Richardson and Lost's Elizabeth Mitchel) is a tragic beauty, but you can always see the light in her eyes and potential for redemption. Jakob Hawkins' "Tim" could easily become a maudlin drip, but his appeal to both "Clare" and "Heidi" is entirely believable.

*Writer/Director Patrick Donnelly refreshingly avoids cliches in crafting the secondary characters. The "Main Character's Male Best Friend" is usually presented as a clown, jerk or manipulator. As written by Donnelley and acted by Bill Hidell, "Dave" is a smart,...

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