First time director Scott Cooper adapted the novel by Thomas Cobb and does a commendable job. This is a purely character-driven film with a small cast and simple plot. The intimacy between Blake and Jean is tender and a testament to the hard struggle relationships can be when both people come with baggage and a tumultuous past.

This is a very American film. The lovebirds hail from Charleston in the south. Savannah lives in a big white house with horses while John is an upstanding military man.

Stylistically, Tim Burton was an excellent choice to direct this version of Alice In Wonderland. He takes the already bizarre world of Wonderland and its characters and puts his defining twisted touch to it as he does with all his films and it works well.