pic: Richard Aaron
I just watched
Middle of Nowhere, a 2008 indie film available for free on Netflix as we speak. I wanted to see solely based on the fact that it starred Eva Amurri. She's known mainly for being Susan Sarandon's daughter. Unlike many Hollywood spawn, the few interviews I've read quote her as intelligent and cultured. The first I came across was her discussing how Robert Mapplethorpe shot nudes of her as a small child. This, and her mom was the original Janet in
Rocky Horror. How could someone like this not be intriguing?
A quick wikipedia search also reveals her father's side of the family are pretty prestigious in the Italian entertainment industry and that she has a degree from Brown University.
If I were to be involved in a first film,
Middle of Nowhere would be that project. It's script (written by actress Michelle Morgan) is spot on. Its small budget was spent in exactly the right ways. The acting was superb. The music and cinematography killed it. Don't get me wrong, you could tell this wasn't a Spielberg film, but they took this shoestring and made the epitome of cat's cradle with it. Amurri and Yelchin aren't gorgeous, nor are they dumb. Their character's are challenged by real-life, slightly mundane situations many of us relate to (alienation from parents, how to pay for college, unrequited crushes). Ten years removed from these sorts of troubles, I felt a clear connection that transcended age or experience. I still can't decide what I enjoyed more, the script or how the young actors reacted to it.
The best shot of Anton Yelchin, smokin' in the bathtub.
I didn't realize Sarandon was actually in the film until it started. Then, Amurri's costar, the stoner-adorable Anton Yelchin actually reminded me of what Robert Mapplethorpe might have been like in 1965. All curly hair, weird laughs, and pot smoke (minus the art, of course).
The story revolves around Grace (Amurri, who isn't the prettiest or most charming.) She's much more real, and it was encouraging to see a starring role go to someone like this. Grace is responsible and smart; and wants to go to college to escape her small town and irresponsible mother (Sarandon). The film opens with Grace learning she doesn't qualify for student loans because her mom ruined her credit by taking out credit cards in her name. We quickly meet said mother and younger sister, Taylor (a valuable sneak peak at what talent Willa Holland may show us in future movies), age 15, and struggling with that whole "child versus adult" phase we all go through.
pic: Alex Marie
Dorian (Yelchin) arrives at Grace's part time job, realizes she needs money, and that she has a valuable asset to his marijuana-selling business: a car. He offers to split his summer profits with her in exchange for rides, and she agrees. The weeks progress, Dorian develops feelings for Grace. Grace develops feelings for Ben (a cute vacationer), Taylor develops feelings for older boys in general, and, unlike most plots, nothing drastic really happens. I felt like I was watching myself at ages 15-20. I thought I loved people, whom I really just wanted to kiss. I look back now at friends from that era and realized there was real love in strange circumstances. The film ended and I felt the three young people would grow up and apart and remember one another fondly, but not be overly sentimental or melodramatic in their reflections on that summer.
Grace will go to college, but will she stay all four years? Taylor will probably get married to a local and work at a bank or clothing store. Their mom will remain stuck and inane.
