Linda Cardellini in Liza Johnson's Film "Return" A lot of people had it worse than I did. That is the rote, slightly impatient response of Kelli (Linda Cardellini), a soldier returning from an overseas tour of duty, when friends ask what happened to her. Anchored by a powerfully restrained performance by Ms. Cardellini ("Freaks and Geeks," "ER," the "Scooby Doo" movies), who appears in virtually every scene, "Return," Liza Johnson's sober first feature, is impressive for what it leaves out. Kelli is a study of depression in a depressed environment. The film's emotional and physical components play into each other as her mood of stoic hopelessness shades into stifled desperation. All we learn is that Kelli, an Ohio National Guard reservist, worked in military supplies while overseas and saw a few dead bodies but was spared combat. Her service has yet to be completed, and she could be deployed again at any moment. The movie doesn't specify where she was stationed, and there is no mention of politics. There are no flashbacks to traumatic war experiences, and when asked by a friend if she had an affair, Kelli, who is married, says no. Her husband, Mike (Michael Shannon), a plumber, relishes his work. They have two little girls. Mr. Shannon imbues Mike with the same flinty masculinity that he brought to his working-class character in "Take Shelter," minus the air of grim foreboding. The family lives in a drab, unidentified town of storage tanks and furniture outlets that Anne Etheridge's camera studies with a merciless eye. Although the film is in color, everything looks gray. Except for a lake Kelli visits briefly with a friend, the landscape is devoid of beauty. Her briefly euphoric homecoming begins to sour on her first day back, when Mike's response to her arrival isn't as passionate as she had imagined. She quickly discovers that the life she left behind has subtly changed and lost its zest. She enthusiastically resumes her former job stapling metal sheets in a small ventilator factory but soon grows bored with the routine and impulsively quits. When she discovers that Mike has been having an affair with Cara Lee (Bonnie Swencionis), who works in an automobile showroom, she slips off the rails and begins to drink. After a raucous evening with girlfriends whose mindless chatter irritates her, Kelli is arrested on a D.U.I. charge, and her driver's license suspended for six months. To regain it she is obliged to attend supervised Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where she chafes at the leader's admonitory attitude. John Slattery has some wonderful moments as a cynical, rebellious A.A. member and deer hunter - also a veteran - who has eyes for her. As Kelli lounges around at home and dabbles in telemarketing, Mike loses patience with her. In a scene of friendly marital roughhouse, he begins tickling her, and you expect the spark to reignite until she viciously turns on him and screams, "Stop!" The final straw comes when Kelli forgets to pick up her daughter from an after-school program, and the little girl, walking home through a dangerous neighborhood, has to be whisked out of harm's way by a police officer. Mike, beside himself with disgust, leaves Kelli and takes the girls to live with his mother. The scenes of Kelli cuddling her daughters when Mike drops them off for visits are the film's most tender, even though she is too unstable to care for them. The movie doesn't blame anybody, nor is Kelli's behavior ascribed to simple cause and effect. In this stratum of Middle American society during wartime and hardship, the movie suggests, life is tough and challenging. You admire these characters for their considerable resilience while understanding that even the best-intentioned people can break under the stress. Return Written and directed by Liza Johnson; director of photography, Anne Etheridge; edited by Paul Zucker; music by T. Griffin; production design by Inbal Weinberg; costumes by Erica Munro; produced by Noah Harlan, Ben Howe and Ms. Johnson; released by DADA Films. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. WITH: Linda Cardellini (Kelli), Michael Shannon (Mike), John Slattery (Bud), Talia Balsam (Julie), Bonnie Swencionis (Cara Lee), Emma Rayne Lyle (Jackie) and Paul Sparks (Ed).