Robert (Rossif Sutherland), an established New York stockbroker, is turning thirty and is painfully aware of it. Uncomfortable with his job — a feeling only exacerbated by the recent economic crisis — he’s also shy, particularly around women. (A recent breakup hasn’t helped.) While moaning about his life over a birthday drink with his best friend Paul (Don McKellar), Robert spots Daphne (Karine Vanasse), and at Paul’s urging, decides to chat her up. One wild night later, he wakes up in his car, heading north to Canada to a town he’s never heard of.
Riffing on classic road-movie romances like Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, Leonard Farlinger’s I’m Yours is an inner journey as much as a geographical one. As Robert and Daphne gradually wear down one another’s defences, we learn that each is carrying more baggage than they can handle on their own. As the kilometres pile up, so do the complications, until the characters are both faced with the same decision: how much do they trust one another, and how much do they want to become entangled in each other’s lives?
Smartly directed by veteran filmmaker Farlinger, I’m Yours is fuelled by Jonathon Cliff’s gorgeous cinematography (rarely has Northern Ontario looked this stunning) and two fine lead performances. A skilled actor who has already racked up substantial credits, Sutherland reveals a previously unseen charm and vulnerability. One of Quebec’s most prominent actors, Vanasse (who produced and starred in Denis Villeneuve’s memorable Polytechnique) is alluring and enigmatic as a woman who has finally decided to run towards something instead of away from it. And as with any good road movie, Robert and Daphne encounter the obligatory cast of eccentrics along the way.
I’m Yours hinges on how we deal with our past and whether we can forgive ourselves (and others) for mistakes. It’s both mature and optimistic, a welcome tonic in an era when people tend to respond to uncertainty by pointing fingers. –TIFF
