In this marriage drama, a young couple heads to the countryside to break out of a toxic cycle.
Not many movies faithfully recreate just how awful (and interminable) some arguments between couples can feel, but “The Wheel” boldly makes the effort. In fact, the young couple at the film’s raw center — married in their teens, locked into toxic dysfunction in their 20s — could probably have been pulled out of their car wreck of a marriage long ago.
Steve Pink’s short-but-not-sweet feature begins with a rescue attempt: Walker (Taylor Gray) drives Albee (Amber Midthunder) to a lakeside rental in the country to work on the marriage. The plan is to use a self-help manual. She is dismissive, then cutting; he is a wellspring of optimism, and soon a punching bag.
Their scorched-earth/savior dynamic quickly spirals, and somewhat mortifyingly, they are not alone. The bright-eyed owner of their cabin, Carly (Bethany Anne Lind), lives steps away with her fiancé, Ben (Nelson Lee). She has some patience for the young marrieds, but he’s an Albee skeptic. Their doubts about their own relationship are also gently aired.
What’s most bracing is how Albee’s put-downs and Walker’s persistence are largely denuded of comedic cushioning. (Pink previously directed “Hot Tub Time Machine” and was a co-writer on the “High Fidelity” screenplay.) Many similar independent dramas feel rife with hand-holding by comparison, though the “Wheel” screenplay takes other shortcuts. The movie also dips into a TV-drama style of soundtrack accompaniment that can sap moments of dramatic energy.
The story ends with an ambitiously staged sequence that reaches for another level of feeling, but it’s hard for anything to match the bruising depiction of Albee and Walker’s rough road to that point.
The Wheel
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes. Rent or buy on Apple TV, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
