Saul is the domineering head of an upper middle-class American family. He lectures in theology and practices violin with his teenage son. His daughter has a gift for spelling, his wife – well, we’re not too sure about his wife. Such is the introduction to Naomi Gyllenhaal’s (Running On Empty) lid-lifting examination of family dynamics. Even those who seem to have it all, she suggests, often don’t. 

Poor Richard Gere, whose determination to run the family unit runs him into a brick wall when his spiritually empty son takes up with the Krishnas and the marbles of his wife (Juliette Binoche) are found wanting. He barely notices since his daughter’s spelling prowess has led him to question whether she has the ear of God. This handsome production is rich in allegory and cinematic iconography. It’s a pleasure to look at and enjoyable to spend time with a reasonably functional, if overly serious, family. Here are people who respect one another and can speak in fully formed sentences. “Words hold their history in their letters,” teaches Pop.

Delivered with some visual aplomb by directing partners Scott McGehee and David Siegel, Bee Season is a curious affair. It’s the kind of film you want to like much more than you can. The plight of their characters should earn our sympathy yet so stodgy is their direction that the story’s emotional heart fails to make much of an impression. Many great ideas, given a lighter touch, could have flown instead of simply buzzing around the edges of possibility. Nonetheless, Binoche is pretty to watch, as is the potential of her on-screen daughter, Flora Cross.

// COLIN FRASER