Movie review: ‘Wrecked’ is the best and worst of Adrien Brody

A man awakes to discover he is trapped in the passenger seat of a car that has run off the road in a secluded stretch of woods. He can’t remember who he is or how he got there, and especially seems uncertain about the dead guy in the back seat.

In “Wrecked,” the feature debut for director Michael Greenspan and writer Christopher Dodd, Adrien Brody stars as that guy, spending lots of screen time all by himself. Brody can be an eccentric and compelling actor but also has an inclination toward hamminess, and the nature of the storytelling here — there’s often nothing else to look at — brings out his best and worst tendencies.

Asked to convey a wide spectrum of emotional tones like confusion, shock, sadness, anger and oh, look out for the mountain lion, Brody does all he can to hold the screen.

As the story adds complications and begins to explain its own enigmatic central queries, both through circumstances and the foggy, returning memories of Brody’s character, “Wrecked” becomes less interesting; the film is at its best when it’s just Brody stuck in the car.

“Wrecked.” MPAA rating: R for language and some violent content. Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes. At Laemmle’s Sunset 5, West Hollywood.