'Louder Than Bombs': A disappointing English-language debut from Joachim Trier

Joachim Trier has quickly established himself as one of Europe's boldest stylists with his first two features, 2006's Reprise and 2011's Oslo, August 31st, memorable, deeply moving films that achieve a rare balance between formal experimentation and stirring emotional content.

But the Norwegian writer-director delivers a miss with his first English-language film, Louder Than Bombs. The film is a ponderous, overwrought meditation on grief, loss, guilt, and memory that prods and probes its characters more like lab rats than living, breathing creations.

It has been three years since acclaimed war photographer Isabelle Reed (Isabelle Huppert in an enigmatic, sphinxlike turn) died in a car accident. Happiest when dodging bullets in the Middle East, Isabelle would wilt and shrink into a depression whenever she returned to her adoring husband, Gene (Gabriel Byrne), and their two sons, Jonah (Jesse Eisenberg) and Conrad (Devin Druid).

A major retrospective exhibition of Isabelle's work has kicked up a host of raw emotions for the three people she left behind. Trier presents their grief as case studies and goes on to explore how each person's memories present a different aspect of Isabelle.

Louder Than Bombs is made up of an overwhelming mass of flashbacks. Trier fails to weave them organically into the fabric of the story, instead taking awkward, contrived timeouts from the action.

Most troubling is the film's characterizations: These people aren't particularly sympathetic or memorable.

Gene comes off as a passive, weak-willed creature, so in thrall of his wife, he put up with her bad behavior for years. When he realizes his youngest boy feels betrayed that his father is dating again, Gene promptly drops his girlfriend (Amy Ryan).

Jonah, a brilliant young college professor, had his first baby in the opening scenes, only to run off to have an affair with an old flame (Rachel Brosnahan). His younger brother, Conrad, is a misfit addicted to video-game violence and is so utterly ill-tempered and petulant that he is completely alienating.

For her part, Isabelle has no independent existence outside emotionally warped memories that depict her as a selfish absentee wife and mother.

Why would anyone want to spend time with this family?

tirdad@phillynews.com
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Louder Than Bombs
Directed by Joachim Trier. With Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn. Distributed by the Orchard.
Running time: 1 hour, 49 mins.
Parent's guide: R (profanity, some sexual content, nudity and violent images).
Playing at: Ritz at the Bourse.