Can you believe John Stockwell, director, from Galveston, is almost 50? I first saw him in the TV movie "Quarterback Princess" with Helen Hunt almost 30 years ago. I generally like his direction, and one of his better ones was "Blue Crush." His films have a very realistic feel to them and "Middle of Nowhere" feels very realistic.
Shot in the Baton Rouge area, including some scenes on the Mississippi River levee, the story is about a group of teenagers trying to navigate into young adulthood.
Eva Amurri (Susan Sarandon's real-life daughter) is Grace, almost 19 and intending on going to medical school. Grace is a very serious teenager, but is hampered by $35Thousand in credit card debt that her mother ran up in Grace's name after dad killed himself. So having no other choice she is working at the local water park for the summer. Mom is not very sympathetic or helpful to her cause. There are a number of serious mother-daughter issues.
Anton Yelchin as Dorian Spitz has a different set of issues. He is adopted and at 17 really doesn't want to follow into the family business as an undertaker. He is working at the water park also, but for a different reason, as a cover for his real enterprise, selling high-quality cannabis to a variety of locals. In fact he has an ingenious cover, he shows up with Starbucks cups in a tray, at a home or a business or on a golf course, to deliver the product, collecting his money in the exchange.
Dorian has been put on foot for the summer as a punishment so he befriends Grace, who has a car. She is very reluctant at first but, coming to the realization that she needs money quite a bit faster than the water park job can supply it, takes an interest in the enterprise. She goes into a partnership with Dorian, as his driver, and they will split profits 50:50.
As we might imagine not everything goes smoothly, they get themselves into some tight situations, and boyfriend/girlfriend issues between the two of them and others also complicates things. And overall it is a good movie, a study of teenage characters trying to make it into young adulthood.
Also good is Willa Holland, who was about 16, as Grace's 15-year-old sister Taylor Elizabeth Berry. As well as the mother, Susan Sarandon as Rhonda Berry. And the other boyfriend candidate, Justin Chatwin as Ben Pretzler.
The golf course scenes were filmed at The Island golf community in Plaquemine about 14 miles from downtown Baton Rouge.
1 out of 2 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink