大象传媒

Over two decades after Paris, Texas, director Wim Wenders and screenwriter Sam Shepard re-team for the similarly themed but less convincing Don't Come Knocking. This time Shepard also stars as a washed-up movie cowboy who's walked into the sunset of his life only to find himself cold and alone. Although his stoicism suggests an air of the traditional American hero, Shepard struggles to convey anything beyond silence and so the film feels as parched as its landscape.

Initially Shepherd draws you into Howard's world in spectacular style as he flees a movie set on a galloping horse across the Utah desert. It contrasts sharply with his awkwardness when he drops in on his mother (Eva Marie Saint) after a 30-year absence and more so when she drops a clanger about the child he never knew he had. Howard confronts the boy (Gabriel Mann) who wants nothing to do with him while his mother (Jessica Lange) laughs off his suggestion of "reconciliation".

"LITTLE BENEATH THE GESTURING"

Lange delivers the most credible performance in an off-kilter world where characters go from saying nothing to spilling their guts in flowery dialogue. Sarah Polley carries the biggest burden as another of Howard's possible offspring who wanders around town cradling her mother's ashes and making cryptic comments. That's fine for a while and the dusty backdrop evokes a palpable sense of transience and the lingering past, but there's ultimately very little beneath the gesturing. If Howard must come to terms with knowing that the sands of time don't erase all mistakes, Shepard should know they'll most likely bury this one.

Don't Come Knocking is released in UK cinemas on Friday 28th April 2006.