MAJOR ARCANA: 2 STARS. “feels stretched even at only 80 minutes.”
A film about finding a new life in isolation may seem like a timely story but “Major Arcana,” now on VOD, is a bit too minor key to leave much of an impression.
The slow burn story involves Dink (Ujon Tokarski) a drifter who returns to his Vermont hometown after the death of his father. Pops left behind enough land to build a new place and perhaps, find a new start. Years of living aimlessly have given Dink time for introspection. He’s quit drinking and is looking to help heal the wounds his old behavior caused.
He is overhauling his life, bit by bit, reconnecting with Sierra (Tara Summers), the girlfriend he abandoned years before, and Jean (Lane Bradbury), his embittered, gambling addicted mother.
Adding a sense of permanence to his life is the cabin he’s building on his father’s land.
There is nothing major about “Major Arcana.” It is a small-scale film, told in a minor key. Director Josh Melrod takes his time telling the tale, allowing us to get to know thew characters. Trouble is, there isn’t much to learn. Tokarski, a carpenter in real life whose skills with hammer and nails are amply on display as he pieces together the cabin, brings a naturalism to Dink’s story of redemption but the film’s over-all Terrence Malick Lite approach feels stretched even at only 80 minutes.