The Roads Not Taken is frequently moving, and a fascinating creative idea, but without sufficient information about Leo's character to anchor the narrative, it feels too abstract.

It's a chamber piece in many ways, but with bold flashback excursions that come close to causing its emotional engine to overheat.

[T]hat's it. That's the film. Three different Javier Bardems moaning solidly, sometimes crying, and struggling to write, for 85 minutes.

Bardem brings grace and pathos to his role, and there is real delicacy and tenderness in his scenes with Fanning.