Along the Broken Road

The promising concept of Burch's smalltown contemporary is diminished by its inconsistent and jumbled execution. Ian Carlisle is a military veteran with a mission: to deliver his old commander's journal to the man's daughter, Charlee McKinley, one page at a time. Charlee runs a retreat for an eccentric band of older artists on her family's land in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. As the artists try to push Charlee and Ian together, the pair deal with their own issues standing in the way of their feelings for each other. Burch (One Lavender Ribbon) attempts an ambitious combination of story threads, including the trauma of military life, three parallel emotionally absent fathers, alcoholism, and the pros and cons of life in a small rural town. Unfortunately, the reality does not live up to the high potential, as the sheer number of story lines means that no single theme is explored beyond a few scenes, and the characters lack the narrative space to rise beyond their clich%C3%A9s. Agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates. (June)