First Cousin Once Removed benefits from the clarity provided by Honig's published poetry, which
surfaces in voiceover narration and words on the screen, rendering the undulations of his life in sweeping abstractions.
The personal overwhelms any deeper consideration of the professional
in Creation; gimmicky,
surface - level grieving and hand - wringing gives way to pitched, plaintive and downright grating
voiceover narration, and one just knows at some point that Connelly will look beautiful but get all emotional, screaming and crying about how she's had enough and can't take it anymore.