THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS American Directions

Glenn Close, delivering a typically stalwart performance, heads a fine ensemble cast that also includes Dermot Mulroney, Moira Kelly, Mary Kay Place, Patricia Clarkson and Joshua Jackson.

Director Rose Troche’s suburbia, based on a series of stories by AM. Homes is neither sinister nor subversive rather, it’s comfortable, polite and stiflingly small. Troche utilizes a leisurely pace and an overly bright yet flat look to devastating effect as she reveals the crumbling lives behind the well-kept facades of four neighborhood households alternately grappling with loss, abandonment, disappointment and boredom.

A deceptively powerful film, so seemingly quiet the result is a ferocious roar. The ethereal energy between Close and Clarkson is particularly lovely.