Twice Born movie review & film summary (2013)

Soon enough, though, we're in for one of a series of extended flashbacks. Gemma receives an early-morning phone call from her old friend, Gojco (the boisterous Adnan Haskovic), urging her to return to Sarajevo. The work of an American photographer with whom she had a tragic romance, Diego (Emile Hirsch), is the subject of an exhibition there. She agrees to visit with her son in tow, theoretically to expose him to a different part of the world but truthfully to stir up further confusion over the identity of his biological father.

Immediately, memories of this thrilling and tumultuous time come rushing back to her. The year is 1984 and the city is alive with the prospect of the Winter Olympics approaching. Young, beautiful Gemma falls in with Gojco and his wacky international crew of artists, poets and dreamers living out their thoroughly unconvincing version of La Vie Boheme.

Among them is the globetrotting, hard-partying Diego, who becomes smitten with Gemma instantly. Although his character is aware of their age difference, Hirsch himself is 11 years younger than Cruz—a distracting chasm that neither actor is able to bridge. Despite their respective talents, the two have zero chemistry, making it impossible to become invested in the challenges they face.

Supposedly Gemma and Diego fall quickly and desperately in love. The first night they're together, he sort of forces himself on her. As the years go by, he shows up in the spaces in between, and his romantic overtures seem more creepy and stalky than charming. "Every day will be a party with me, baby," he promises after her first divorce—because he's an overgrown man-child, and his manic energy is meant to be adorable.

Eventually, the two decide they want to have a child together. When it turns out that Gemma has fertility issues, they try to adopt. When that doesn't work, they get creative with surrogacy. This brings us to the film's most truly vibrant and intriguing character, an outspoken Croatian musician named Aska (the striking Saadet Aksoy). But like every other character in "Twice Born," she gets saddled with some truly clunky dialogue, much of which revolves around her obsession with Kurt Cobain. (This is also an easy shorthand to inform us that it's now 1992, the year the Bosnian War began.)

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