I can't help but compare this movie to Anywhere But Here (1999), which was released just a month earlier. This one had almost no one I'd heard of anywhere in the credits, but the acting was still wonderful. I had no idea that the actresses weren't from the U.S. South until I read earlier IMDB viewer reviews, but the convincing accents were only the beginning of the fine acting in the movie. They were just as good as the big-name stars in the other movie, Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman (well, maybe not quite as great as Portman), but McTeer and Brown weren't betrayed by a bad script.
McTeer's performance works where Sarandon's fails. Sarandon's acting was very good, but she had a script that made her character difficult to believe and completely unlikeable. McTeer's acting was just as good (quite a feat), and she had a character who was both believable and sympathetic, though flawed. I hope this movie leads to bigger movies for her.
Brown's performance was completely convincing. Like real kids, she sometimes wants to be grown-up, and other times wants to just be a kid. She's helped by a script that is very believable. Portman had a less believable role, and managed the amazing feat of making her convincing, although she still couldn't save her movie. I'm sure she has a notable career in her future.
In this movie, McTeer's character Mary Jo Walker is a mother who wants to be involved with a man, but usually ends up with losers of one sort or another. She has the strength to leave them once she comes to her senses and realizes that they're losers, but not the sense to figure that out before getting involved. Everyone knows people like that. Her way of breaking away from the losers once and for all is to leave town abruptly, much to the disruption of her daughter's life, and her own. (Contrast that with Sarandon's character, who starts her movie by leaving a good relationship with a nice man for a silly fantasy.) Mary Jo is a loser magnet who tries to run away from her mistakes, but she's otherwise admirable -- a strong woman and a caring mother.
Brown's character Ava Walker is a believable kid. She can see her mother's loser magnet pattern, is aggravated by it, and warns her mother about it each time it repeats (not that it helps, of course), but she's still a regular kid. She's close to her mother, in spite of their erratic life, enjoys her pets and her friends in her new school. She has few deep drama scenes, but she portrays regular kid life very well.
The plot line of the story isn't remarkable, but the details are fully convincing, and the characters are interesting. The story makes us care about the characters, and that's what makes their journey interesting. Possible spoiler sentence: The ending is somewhat predictable, in that we assume they'll end up settling into a more stable life, but it's still convincing because Mary Jo is encouraged toward the optimistic ending by friends she makes along the way.
The well-developed supporting characters are a big part of why this movie's story works so well. She makes two good friends at her crummy job, and one at a garden store, and has an interestingly awful boss. Each character is well developed, and seems like a real person, and their presence in the story really helps tell us something interesting about Mary Jo.
One thing about the movie that's annoying at times is the use of hand-held cameras. Sometimes it gives scenes dramatic immediacy, but often it's just distracting. It doesn't detract too much from the movie, but the camera work could have been done better.
The movie says it's "based on a true story", whatever that means. (After all, aren't all stories based on truth in one way or another?) But in this case, it could mean that the characters seem real enough to make viewers think, "I know people like that." Good work.
McTeer's performance works where Sarandon's fails. Sarandon's acting was very good, but she had a script that made her character difficult to believe and completely unlikeable. McTeer's acting was just as good (quite a feat), and she had a character who was both believable and sympathetic, though flawed. I hope this movie leads to bigger movies for her.
Brown's performance was completely convincing. Like real kids, she sometimes wants to be grown-up, and other times wants to just be a kid. She's helped by a script that is very believable. Portman had a less believable role, and managed the amazing feat of making her convincing, although she still couldn't save her movie. I'm sure she has a notable career in her future.
In this movie, McTeer's character Mary Jo Walker is a mother who wants to be involved with a man, but usually ends up with losers of one sort or another. She has the strength to leave them once she comes to her senses and realizes that they're losers, but not the sense to figure that out before getting involved. Everyone knows people like that. Her way of breaking away from the losers once and for all is to leave town abruptly, much to the disruption of her daughter's life, and her own. (Contrast that with Sarandon's character, who starts her movie by leaving a good relationship with a nice man for a silly fantasy.) Mary Jo is a loser magnet who tries to run away from her mistakes, but she's otherwise admirable -- a strong woman and a caring mother.
Brown's character Ava Walker is a believable kid. She can see her mother's loser magnet pattern, is aggravated by it, and warns her mother about it each time it repeats (not that it helps, of course), but she's still a regular kid. She's close to her mother, in spite of their erratic life, enjoys her pets and her friends in her new school. She has few deep drama scenes, but she portrays regular kid life very well.
The plot line of the story isn't remarkable, but the details are fully convincing, and the characters are interesting. The story makes us care about the characters, and that's what makes their journey interesting. Possible spoiler sentence: The ending is somewhat predictable, in that we assume they'll end up settling into a more stable life, but it's still convincing because Mary Jo is encouraged toward the optimistic ending by friends she makes along the way.
The well-developed supporting characters are a big part of why this movie's story works so well. She makes two good friends at her crummy job, and one at a garden store, and has an interestingly awful boss. Each character is well developed, and seems like a real person, and their presence in the story really helps tell us something interesting about Mary Jo.
One thing about the movie that's annoying at times is the use of hand-held cameras. Sometimes it gives scenes dramatic immediacy, but often it's just distracting. It doesn't detract too much from the movie, but the camera work could have been done better.
The movie says it's "based on a true story", whatever that means. (After all, aren't all stories based on truth in one way or another?) But in this case, it could mean that the characters seem real enough to make viewers think, "I know people like that." Good work.