Come and Find Me (2016)

What do you call Zach Whedon's little gem of a film? It's part romance, part mystery, and part thriller, and all good and intriguing. It's not a loud film, despite the action sequences; it has nuance, and lovely touches in the Aaron Paul (David) and Annabelle Wallis (Claire) relationship.

The film begins with a misdirection, actually a long-standing motif with David and Claire, which creates tension from the get-go and almost a quality of premonition for the rest of the film. I never watched Breaking Bad but was impressed by how good Aaron Paul's Everyman was, doggedly putting himself though Hell to find an answer when something happens to Claire.

I was equally impressed with how Whedon took David from a Naif out of his element to a little more savvy the deeper he dug, trying to find information along the way on his quasi-detective journey.

Nice acting from everyone involved. You will probably recognize a few actors you've seen before in film and television.

True love WILL make you do the wacky. I really enjoyed this film.

Fmovies: I'm sure the director thinks he shot the film in a certain "style". He did not, it's just bad craftsmanship. The script goes the same way, it is probably supposed to convey a sense of realism, while actually it is just boring. Watching Aaron Paul stutter on the phone, disjointed scenes of him talking to friends "have you seen her?". Yea, we get it she's missing.

This is one of those movies that could've been done with a total length of 15 minutes, and that would've been better. Because neither Aaron Paul nor the blonde playing his girlfriend have the screen presence to carry a whole movie, despite Aaron Paul being an excellent actor and a true asset to any TV-show.

The opening scene is him and her following each other to the same home address, discovering they both live there, and being surprised by a framed picture of them apparently knowing each other. That story arc caught my interest, but unfortunately was just foreplay role play.

"Come and Find Me", the missing girlfriend story done wrong. If you want this, watch "Gone Girl", solid directing, and solid script that will hold you in suspense.

Romantic-Thriller from First Time Director Zack Whedon Featuring Aaron Paul and Annabelle Wallis. It is a Low-Budget, Barely Released Disappointment that gets Everything about Half-Right.

The Thriller Aspects, a Missing Girlfriend involved in Mysterious Goings On who Left the Pining Paul without a Note, is a Setup that is Classical and Consuming. There is a McGuffin (role of film), Gang Members, Intriguing Photographs of Unidentified, Creepy Looking Types, and so forth.

This is a Fine Beginning but as Things Unfold the Director Decides (not advisable) to Portray the Events with Equal amounts of Present Time and Flashbacks. When Things get Tense and Scary the Viewer is Immediately Time Shifted to the Past to Solidify Their Relationship.

After the First Few times this happens it becomes Tedious, Repetitive, and Stops the Films Momentum Cold. It is done with a Dull Regularity and the Story has to Gain Suspense all over again. This is Deadly to the Drama at hand. It Weakens the Movie as it Requires the Reinforcement of already Enforced Dangers.

So it's a Movie of Two Competing and Separate Stories. The Movie is Long at almost 2 Hours and it probably would have Worked Better if the Love Story was Cut by Half and the Flashback Angle was Abandon for a more Linear Approach.

Worth a Watch but be Prepared for a Start and Stop Feel that is Clunky and keeps this from being Less than it Should. All the Ingredients are here for a Good Thriller but the Awkward Mixing Misfires.

Come and Find Me fmovies. Enjoyable, engaging, captivating, suspense film.

But of course you did not take the time to look at this review to find out the obvious. You want to know more.

So here we go: Writer/Director Zack Whedon comes from a family where, instead of teaching the boys how to play ball or change a sparkplug, the parents taught their kids how to tell a story. (More on this can can found on the web.) The first breakout star from the siblings was Joss. Joss as in Buffy, Serenity, Cabin In the Woods, the Marvel Library and, for all I know, Genesis and Deuteronomy too.

So, my point, when looking at a Whedon film, if you want to look beyond simple entertainment value, you need to look for "influences." And this one is clear. Except for the last 2 minutes, this effort is the closest thing I have seen to an Alfred Hitchcock "Jimmy Stewart" story in over a half century.

Hitch understood completely - a lesson lost on most modern auteurs, young Whedon notwithstanding -- that the essence of suspense is to layer over it a romantic entanglement so as to get double the kick from the very same arc. All his films were structured this way.

It is a trick that very few have tried to imitate in this era but it works here, and works brilliantly. By the time the viewer realizes this is not a rom-com or relationship movie, this something else entirely, the trap is already baited and the hook is set.

Add to that some odd tricks with time juxtaposition (most of which work well, but not all of them) and you have a very engaging thriller.

Recommended.

When it comes to movies, I try to steer clear of anything romantic or too heavy on action. You wont find me watching movies like The Notebook nor will I begin to navigate the repertoire that is Steven Seagal's Straight-to-Video library. I like movies that I can tell had thought put into their script, had characters with some to a lot of depth, and a run-time that didn't drag on.

Now that my "disclaimer" is there, I will say this movie touched on what I tend to enjoy most in movies - mystery, leads with chemistry, and believable characters. One of the characters in the movie, I won't say which, borders on the element of believable but still kept my interest.

The story is about David and his search to find his missing girlfriend Claire. What begins as a run of the mill girl-gone-missing story, turns into a thrilling mystery pretty quickly and David soon begins a deeper journey into finding out just what happened to the love of his life. There is plenty of action to keep most guys interested, whereas the relationship (expressed in flashbacks, mostly) to keep any girl interested. It keeps an even pace of action/flashbacks to unfold a journey of one man's quest for the truth.

It raises questions of "What causes a woman, without any problems or fights, to disappear without a single trace (initially). How well do we really know the person we share a bed with every night?" I've rated plenty of movies before, but again, my first review so I hope I captured a spoiler free look. I would've gladly paid to have seen it in theaters (as someone who makes 2 trips a week to the local theater).

Not a bad movie at all! Much better then half the crap Hollywood puts out! Goes to show you that something so simple can be as effective as a huge budget blockbuster movie.

I'll start out that the first half of the movie had me very intrigued. The second half however changed. I thought the latter threw a 180 and went in the direction of action. I feel that if they would have toned it done some, or kept the plot linear to the first have the film would of turned out much better!

I thought the acting was well done from the two leads. Aaron Paul, I thought did a wonderful job! The female lead wad beautiful to look at, and needs more rolls. She is gorgeous! I Can't say much for her acting because her dialogue is mediocre.

I thought the musical score was great. The pacing worked okay for me. Well done to the director of this; good job.

All in all, very enjoyable movie for the first viewing. I would like to see more like this.

6.5 from me.