Young people can be terribly awkward. Not quite grown into their own skins, they’re sometimes as uncomfortable with themselves as they are with life and their place in it. That doesn’t mean, however, that a movie about them should be. Gus Van Sant’s latest, “Restless,” is too wrapped up in its protagonist’s self-absorption to provide much satisfaction to the viewer. It might be a meta-commentary on the characters — but it feels far too earnest for that.

Strange to say about a film made by the same man responsible for “Milk,” but “Restless” seems awfully close to a vanity project. It’s adapted by Jason Lew from his play; the writer met Bryce Dallas Howard at New York University, and she (along with heavyweight dad Ron and his producing partner Brian Glazer) brought the story to the big screen. One of its two stars is Henry Hopper, son of the late Dennis and an actor with next to no credits to his name.