Think P.T. Anderson-lite, right down to the female-sung alt-rock ballad that recurs throughout the film (a la Aimee Mann), and you're on your way to figuring out Rose Troche's Magnolia-like ensemble drama. Based on a book of short stories by A.M. Holmes, The Safety of Objects weaves together the destinies of four suburban families all haunted by a gradually revealed tragedy two years in the past. Seriously intentioned and honourable in purpose, the film hits more than it misses, mixing wry comedy with trenchant critiques of both family life and the suburban experience.

Middle-aged wife and mother Esther Gold (Glenn Close) is obsessed with caring for her son, a young man rendered vegetable-like by an unrevealed (at first) tragedy. Her rebellious daughter (Jessica Campbell) has a self-serving plan for Esther that involves a marathon car-touching contest at the mall, wherein the last person standing and still touching the vehicle gets to drive away in it.

Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney) goes slightly off the rails when he is passed over for promotion. Hiding his growing distaste for his own shallow life and suburban life in general behind half-joking, half-desperate comments to his wife Susan (Moira Kelly) like, "Maybe we should move back to the city before it's too late," he finds a cause, of sorts, in Esther's car quest. Of course, his immersion in neighbour Esther's mall adventure (itself a succinct metaphor for the soul-damaging nature of materialist suburbia) is just a way of ignoring the evidence about the need for change in his own life.

The great indie acting veteran Patricia Clarkson (All the Real Girls, The Pledge) steals the show with her fierce performance as divorced Annette Jennings, the obviously intelligent mother of two who drowns her pain at the local bar. Mary Kay Place's Helen Christianson, a frustrated mother and housewife determined to act on her desires, rounds out the lead characters.

I hope the necessarily sketchy plot synopsis above, which barely hints at the wide range of actions and activities of the 15 or so lead characters (including many subplots involving the children) suggests the appealing oddness of the unfolding events-one thing The Safety of Objects isn't is predictable. Via teasing flashbacks, Troche gradually reveals how all the suburbanites on display are inextricably tied together, and as she does, the film's oddness is transformed into a (mostly) satisfying meaning, one both tragic and all too common.

Two caveats, one thematic and one technical: the film's enigmatic nature sometimes spills over into a needlessly strident portentousness; and the sound on the print I viewed was terrible. Still, the ensemble acting of the leads, especially the women-it could easily be called In Praise of Older Moms-makes this worth a trip to the (suburban?) mall.