Backwards (2012)

Thomas, credited as writer, producer, and executive producer, is the obvious auteur, orchestrating a star vehicle she lacks the screen presence to anchor.

It's simple stuff, but it works.

Passably pleasant but thoroughly predictable.

Director Ben Hickernell soft-pedals the material into a blandly feel-good dramedy. As Abigail's spirited young trainees, Alexandra Metz and Meredith Apfelbaum give Backwards their all, but can't row their way clear of its clichés.

Backwards - its title referring to the wisdom that life is lived forward but understood backward - has no forward propulsion.