Young Adult Friction

GIVE ME LIBERTY (A) - A director making his English-language debut and a no-name cast produce this powerful story of a harried medical-transport driver navigating a personal hellscape and a van full of eccentrics through the streets of Milwaukee. Kirill Mikhanovsky, a Russian immigrant, mines his own experiences and crafts a day-in-the-life of Vic (first-timer Chris Galust), a 20-something son of Russian immigrants who juggles personal tribulations with his responsibilities for the sick, ailing and handicapped clients that he ferries, party-bus style, around the city, which happens to be paralyzed by protests in the wake of the police shooting of a young black man.

Mikhanovsky takes this intoxicating mix and masterfully splays it on the screen in whirling images and at breakneck speed. Vic barely pauses for a breath. In addition to his regular passengers on this given day, he agrees to take on the residents of his grandfather's nursing home, who were abandoned by their scheduled driver and need a ride to the funeral service of one of their own.

The individual characters -- many of whom are non-actors with true disabilities -- can be funny and heartbreaking. The most experienced actor is Maxim Stoyanov as Dima, a grifter who has a scam in mind (and designs on Vic's sister) as he goes along for the ride. Lauren "Lolo" Spencer is unforgettable as Tracy, whose motormouth makes up for the limitations of her legs and who represents the emotional core of the film. We get a one-man Greek chorus from a chain-smoking paraplegic (James Watson) who guides Vic as a philosophical guru.

Mikhanovsky does nothing wrong here. He patronizes no one. He doesn't overdo the mayhem. His camera is certain. His script with Alice Austen (a newcomer, of course) never gets mumbly or maudlin. The story they tell is thrilling and heartfelt. It's funny and sweet.

THE WILD PEAR TREE (B+) - From Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan, we get this three-plus-hour epic slow burn about a young writer battling the demons of his small-minded hometown as he struggles to stay true to his craft. Yes, three-plus hours, and no, there's no cheating here. It's somewhat of a companion piece to Ceylan's "Winter Sleep" (with the same running time), about an older writer.

Ceylan -- whose "Climates" is still the gold standard for relationship films -- here focuses more on father and son (and grandfather) rather than couplehood, though he does tease us with a potential love interest for young Sinan (Dogu Demirkol). Sinan has the arrogance of a young writer shopping his first book, a personalized look at his tiny hometown. Demirkol has a millennial smirk and the goofy mien of Adam Sandler, and his restlessness is endearing, as he nearly bursts with frustration.

He must deal with his frustrating father, Idris (Murat Cemcir), a gambling addict consumed by a quixotic quest to tap a well on the family property. We get deadpan humor, philosophical musings and long, mournful landscape shots, all a staple of Ceylan and his writing-partner wife, Ebru (working here with newcomer Akin Aksu on the script). This one requires patience and understanding, and even if it's a minor-key work from a true auteur, it is satisfying right up to its knockout of an ending.

BONUS TRACK
The "Liberty" trailer: