Greetings again from the darkness. First time writer and director Joey Lauren Adams is probably best known as Amy in "Chasing Amy". Here she bares her soul in a story based on her life in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The premise of the emotionally absent local girl (a very earth turn by Ashley Judd) who drinks away her pain while sleeping with many a different guy is not necessarily a bad place to start when telling a story of self discovery. What goes wrong here is just the constant cloud of depressing people and scenes. We have no one to pull for (except maybe Kim, played cheerily by Laura Prepon from "That 70's Show") as they all seem to be drowning in a sea of self pity. Perhaps that is Ms. Adams point.
The supporting cast is impressive and solid with Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Scott Wilson, Stacy Keach, Tim Blake Nelson and Pat Corley. Sadly, none are really given much to work with as far as script or character development. While, as a writer, Ms. Adams shows little promise, we should not give up just yet on her directorial abilities. She does a nice job of capturing small town U.S.A.
