Galveston has some very strong moments but it's slow pace and uneventful plot make for an experience that flip flops between gripping crime thriller and tedious melodrama. Mélanie Laurent shows that she can have a great future as a director if she can just overcome the tendency to present clichés as self-serious original storytelling. Ben Foster and Elle Fanning are good as always, even when their characters don't have a whole lot to do.