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Nov 28, 2016 By Charles Steinberg Web Exclusive

The crux of the matter arrives soon into Come and Find Me, an ambivalent suspense drama that pairs David (Aaron Paul) in a seemingly domestic relationship with Claire (Annabelle Wallis), but not for long when she disappears from the home they share and everything else shortly after the opening credits. The storyline thus puts itself in the bind of needing to play catch-up, with the approach of gradually filling in the outlines of why this came about. As it progresses into David’s year long obsession of finding out what happened to Claire, his flashbacks, eyes closed and at rest, are meant to do the coloring, filling in the motivations behind character paths. But the colors are watery and we don’t have a lot to go on that makes David’s pursuit for the truth worthwhile.

When the curiosity of a common character like David takes him from his comfortable but unexceptional life into dangerous and unfamiliar depths, the drama built into that is compromised when his character hasn’t been developed in relatable ways. Aaron Paul keeps looking for the kind of part that finds him walking the line between scared shitless and bravely resilient and he does an admirable job of portraying the average fellow looking for answers, but the vacancy of a personal history makes his character’s plight difficult to get behind.

What is more, Claire’s background is even fainter. Though the premise hinges on her being mysterious, glimpses into her fanciful beginnings with David delivered through his memories, don’t reveal enough. We know she is some kind of covert operative with a specialty of being inconspicuous with camera only because we are told. The object commanding everyone’s interest along the way is a roll of film Claire had left behind from her time living with David, but we never really learn about the content of that either.

David’s independent investigating brings him uncomfortably close to certain parties Claire associated with in her clandestine activities, and also unimaginatively situated in trite, spy thriller encounters. At one stage he stumbles upon a ragtag Russian underground outfit in the back of a auto repair shop. At another he’s being chased through the woods by a government goon. This formula floods overboard in a parking complex exchange point with brief cases and shadowy figures. Ultimately, Claire resurfaces as some sort of Lara Croft type, rescuing David with guns blazing when he had made it to that stage in this kind of plot where you’ve poked around a little too much so that you wind up in a back room torture chamber. You hang your head a little after drab exchanges like “We’re surrounded”, “So what do we do now?”....“We fight.”

From what you do see from the body of their relationship, there’s sweetness but not a lot of chemistry, making David’s all out search for Claire more interesting for him than it ever is for the audience.

Author rating: 3/10