"The Yellow Handkerchief" reviews by New York Post

THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF

A little gem. Duration: 96 minutes. Rating: PG-13 (violence, profanity, sexuality). At Lincoln Square, the Cinema 1, Union Square.

Beautifully acted by a cast that includes William Hurt and pre-stardom Kristen Stewart and beautifully photographed, "The Yellow Handkerchief" is a fascinating film, loosely based on Pete Hamill column that appeared in this newspaper in 1971.

Hurt makes probably his best performance since his Oscar-winning "Kiss of the Spider Woman," as Brett, an ex-convict who makes his way through the post-Katrina Louisiana, after spending six years in the penitentiary homicide.

A storm forced Brett to share a convertible and a place to sleep with Martine (Stewart) and Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), two teenagers who is in a ferry crossing. The clumsy Gordy is anxious to know the flirtatious Martine much better, but the moody aspiring dancer does not trust his loquacious suitor because of a recent romantic experience.

She prefers to hear about Brett's life - secrets that unfolds slowly worker bald as the trio heads south to New Orleans. They see through a series of flashbacks revolving around his tumultuous relationship with April (Maria Bello), which ended in anger and violence.

Brett is hoping that he still subscribes and the movie's title refers to a sign that requests in a letter.

First, it imparts its hard-won wisdom to their younger peers who happen to also have a few things to teach the ex-convict in midlife.

Stories of people who yearn for a second chance in life have their own way of becoming maudlin in American movies. In other hands this film could easily have been the cinematic equivalent of the old song by Tony Orlando "Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree."

But the episodic screenplay by Erin Dignam, humorous and honest emotion and pitch perfect in the direction of Udayan Prasad ( "My Son the Fantatic") thankfully avoids the manipulation of the audience at every turn.

Hurt leaves his usual route to openly courting our sympathy in a very subtle performance. We see his pain largely through the eyes of their fellow travelers. Stewart, who made this movie when I was 15 - before "Twilight" - shows the presence of stars in a very difficult role that requires her to demonstrate her character's unhappiness at his home in an unconventional manner.

The cocky but vulnerable Gordy is well played by Redmayne, a charismatic British actor known for his portrayal of a murderer of high society in "Savage Grace." Bello, Hurt appeared in "A History of Violence" is sexy and volatile in a relatively small role, but crucial, as a lover of Brett.
Louisiana, photographed by one of the greatest living filmmakers, Chris Menges ( "The Killing Fields"), is also a key character in the film, which gradually develops in swamps and abandoned houses and shops, where travelers refuge.
Hamill's original story, in fact, took place on a bus to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and formerly inspired the 1977 Japanese film of the same title in English. "The Yellow Handkerchief" tells a timeless fable, and the bill extremely well.


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