A convicted man embarks on a journey of violence and redemption to find out the truth about his sister’s death.
Chuck Says:
Robert Budreau’s “Delia’s Gone” has a low-key earnestness to it that holds it in good stead, led by Stephan James who gives a solid performance in a difficult role. He’s Louis, a developmentally challenged individual who depends on his sister Delia (Genelle Williams) long after he should have achieved some sort of independence. When she’s found dead in their home, Louis is promptly arrested, tried and convicted to a seven-year prison sentence. It all seems a bit too convenient and its only after his release that he gets some answers when an old friend of Delia’s, Stacker (Travis Fimmel) makes a startling confession.
Not all that familiar with how the world works, Louis sets out to find out who really killed his sister. It’s a journey fraught with frustration on his part as well as the viewer’s as Budreau’s pacing isn’t nearly as taut as it should be, what with the story slipping into murder mystery territory. Adding to the intrigue is Fran (Marisa Tomei), the former sheriff who oversaw the investigation of Delia’s death and from the start doesn’t seem to be on the up and up, and Bo (Paul Walter Hauser), the current sheriff who gets to the bottom of it all.
Though there’s an urgency to the story, there’s a curious lack of it in the way Budreau tells it. As Louis inches closer to the truth, the story lurches rather than glides, robbing its satisfactory conclusion of the umph it needs. And while Tomei gives an uncharacteristically disengaged performance, James and the rest of the cast are engaging enough to see this through to the end.
2 1/2 Stars
