I'll give the makers credit for a fairly original setting. It's a household with a house-husband, a retired actor father, a little boy, a black male buddy of the father, and a kooky, free-spirited sister in Venice Beach, California. The lead is an environmental lawyer.

Well, movie people write about stuff they can relate to. These characters are Godless, artistic, environmentally concerned, and unconventional. The viewer in Central Nebraska may not relate to them, but some of the themes are supposed to transcend setting.

Of course Venice never looked so good. The family lives on a quiet street and roams the area in peaceful bliss. In reality, that place is filled with homeless, druggies, gangs, and barflies. But the way it was presented was quite pleasing.

I like Chris Messina. He comes across as a thoughtful guy in his indie appearances, and also in this one as director and costar. The lead lady is beautiful when she has make up on, so guys will appreciate that. She can act too. Check out Final Destination 3. Don Johnson is excellent, and Chris Messina brings a gravitas to the screen.

The kid actor was perfect as well. He didn't have gratuitous cutesy scenes or dialog. You felt his sincere confusion over the drama in the household. The wild sister could have overplayed her role, but she didn't. She hit the mark.

As others have said, there could have been some more profound dialog about the meaning of life, but I thought the lead's closing argument in the court room scene was well-written. I also like the way they worked a Checkhov play into the story. It was supposed to parallel Don Johnson's character's predicament of growing old and being left behind.

Black folks will appreciate a wonderfully understated performance by Derek Luke.

Yes, I would have preferred more background on everyone. Where is Don Johnson's wife? Does the painter husband make a living? How did the lead get so involved with the environment? Give us a tad more about the sister. There was some attempt to explain her, but not enough.

How did Derek Luke's character make his initial money? There is also a small role played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. She looks great for her age. Almost the same as she did 30 years ago, although slightly heavier.

I'm glad they did not bombard us with an obnoxious soundtrack. Most of the background music is just a dramatic one-note hum to increase the feeling of intensity.

All in all, not a bad picture if you simply accept the fact that it's about people who some of us may not relate to. The performances are sensitive, gentle, and understated. The atmosphere is appealing, and the attempt to make some sense out of the chaos of changing lives was adequate if not memorable.

Young woman loses her husband and has to take care of her kid by herself. What's new to this story?

The good: acting is good. The story is sweet and gentle. There is a certain effort to make it transcend the simple story of a single mom.

The bad: it's tedious. It's too safe. This story has been told before, with much more spark and punch in other movies.

For his debut as a director, actor Chris Messina made Alex of Venice, an interesting but not totally satisfactory drama which takes advantage of its main actress' big talent, even though she might have deserved more substantial material to work with. Don't misunderstand me... Alex of Venice is a competent drama with excellent performances and a realistic story which deals with difficult and emotive topics without employing Hollywood's false sentimentality. Messina's direction is fluid and efficient, lacking of any affectations and with a good eye to create an urban/bohemian atmosphere reflecting the contrasts of the Venice neighborhood in Los Ángeles. The problem/pro of the film is letting the story be developed through the main character's silences, as well as her subtle changes of expression. Needless to say, Alex of Venice counts with a tremendously expressive actress who fully dominates her craft in that role; but I think co-screenwriters Jessica Goldberg, Katie Nehra and Justin Shelton relied too much on Mary Elizabeth Winstead's talent, and they omitted important pieces of the narrative puzzle, making the movie feel... I don't know... incomplete and premature. The main thing which makes Alex of Venice worthy of a moderate recommendation is the perfect performances, not only Winstead's, but also the ones from Don Johnson, Skylar Gaertner and Julianna Guill. In conclusion, I think Alex of Venice represents a decent debut from Messina as a director which counts with a cast whose brilliant work is helpful to overcome the limitations of the screenplay to some point. I think Alex of Venice should have gone farther in the dramatic aspect, emphasizing the main character's evolution instead of getting distracted with peripheral events which obliquely contribute to the story, but without deepening enough on the main character's experiences.