Less is less in this conventionally re-edited version of a sensitive, talented debut film.  

Writer-director Ned Benson’s contemporary love story starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy returns to the screen 68 minutes shorter than its Toronto incarnation.

Originally unveiled at the Toronto Film Festival in a 191-minute version that was novelly divided into two parts called “Him” and “Her” and told from two different perspectives, Ned Benson’s accomplished all-star feature debut screened in the Certain Regard section in a brand-new 123-minute cut entitled The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them. Shedding 68 minutes of running time makes a hefty difference in the way the story is told and how it feels to watch it. As might be imagined, the shorter cut will have brighter commercial prospects as a smart, romantic date movie when it is released stateside by The Weinstein Co. at the end of September. It is also a far more conventional film and, as it turns out, a much less fascinating journey with the characters. More committed audiences would do well to invest in the whole shebang when the full two-part film finds limited art house release later in the fall, and enjoy the intense and engaging performances from Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy that bring the well-written screenplay to life.

Cannes Film Review: ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them’