It feels a bit like You Can Count on Me, if only because both are character-driven, talky movies about relationships. But even less happens in Spring Forward than in You Can Count on Me -- mostly it's just veteran parks department employee Murph (Ned Beatty) and his new partner, recently paroled Paul (Liev Schreiber) going about their duties and talking about their lives. Though from time to time the conversations drag, for the most part, the real-time thing works well; it gives the film a feeling of intimacy and immediacy.
At first, Schreiber is not terribly convincing as a ne'er-do-well -- he's too articulate and intellectual to pull it off. You can hear him studiously truncating his words at times. As the movie progresses, he eases into his character and into the rhythms of the language and seems more relaxed. He and Beatty have a terrific rapport, and they portray excellently the evolving chemistry between the two very different men, gradually revealing complexities and affecting each other's philosophy.
Campbell Scott and Peri Gilpin contribute nice little cameos -- Gilpin's episode was probably my favorite. The only misfire in the movie is the final episode, which is needlessly, almost ridiculously, melodramatic, quite a jarring difference from everything that's preceded it. Overall, though, I recommend this understated little film.
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