Review: ‘Entanglement’ is a deceptively profound, offbeat comedy

What happens if you find yourself falling for the sister you never knew you had? What if she’s not really your sister? What if she may not really exist at all? Those are just a few of the thought bubbles floated in “Entanglement,” an offbeat, slow-gelling comedy that creeps up on you in deceptively profound and affecting ways.

Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley”) stars as Ben, a depressed, recently divorced 30-year-old who’s given a second lease on life after a series of hapless suicide attempts and the discovery that his parents adopted--but quickly gave up--a baby girl just before Ben was born.

Enter Hanna (Jess Weixler), a brash beauty who Ben comes to believe is that almost-sister. She’s the flip side of Ben — unapologetic and uninhibited, yet with an unexpected take on life and love that includes the theory of quantum entanglements, a phenomenon in which particles cannot be described independently of each other despite spatial separation. Suffice to say, it’s a metaphor.

Ben’s gentle friend and neighbor, Tabby (Diana Bang), as well as his divorced parents (Marilyn Norry, Eric Keenleyside) also unpredictably factor into Ben’s twisty journey.

Director Jason James, working off a darkly amusing, often lovely script by Jason Filiatrault, effectively juggles the film’s disparate, tone-shifting parts and bits of magic realism while coaxing memorable performances from Middleditch, Weixler and Bang.

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‘Entanglement’

Not rated.

Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; also on VOD

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