Thomas Haden Church in Whitewash (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

There are some great movies where man takes on the wilderness and alternately himself. (Into the Wild and Rescue Dawn come to mind). Whitewash is not in this group. Blame cannot be put on Thomas Haden Church who a) is pretty much the only actor I could think of for this part and b) does the best he can with the given material. He has just the right face for a guy who’s been down the wrong side of the block and come out the other side somewhat stunned.

The problem is that there is no characterization for the first half hour. Church’s character, Bruce, hits and kills someone with a snow plow, hides the body, and drives off into the trees. And then stays there. His voice-over pops up every few moments briefly, but we are never allowed inside the character, who remains mostly silent.

Finally, some flashbacks occur and we discover, slowly but surely, what is going on and we begin to understand Bruce’s behavior. Though it isn’t particularly rational, it fits what the movie is trying to reveal about him, but it still isn’t enough. We aren’t really allowed in. It’s clear Bruce’s a broken man, a reason is given, a motivation exists, but sympathy is lacking simply because we are still not given enough. We need a hook to hang a hat on and all we are given is a blank wall.

The movie is divided by Bruce’s will to survive in the wilderness and by the aforementioned flashbacks, which are slightly more interesting. It’s a shame because director Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais has a definite sense of style. He absolutely captures the beauty and sense of desolation in the Quebec woods. There are some fabulous images, the plow driving slowly into the darkness until it is merely a pinpoint of light, but this material would have been much more effective as a short film or perhaps even a novella.