Middle Of Nowhere

Starring:  Susan Surandon, Eva Amurri, Anton Yelchin
Drama, Rated R (2010)

Amurri is Grace.  A teenager from a small town with a flaky undependable mom who is planning to go to College if only she can figure out a way to get the $12,000 it will cost to do that.  She spends her summer days working at the local water park but she knows that isn't going to earn her nearly enough.  She meets Dorian (Yelchin) a bad boy from a privileged family who has been sent to live with his disciplinarian uncle.  He approaches her with a business proposition that while illegal could earn her the money she needs.  Will she take the risk or spend the rest of her life in the middle of nowhere.

• This movie turned out better then I originally thought it would be.  The acting was good by all the lead roles.
• I really enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Grace and her sister Taylor.  It was also interesting to watch the relationship among all three grow which is something that I'm sure neither one of them expected.

4 STARS

The Greatest

Starring:  Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Aaron Johnson
Drama, 2009 (Rated R)

Bennett Brewer (Johnson) is smart and young with his whole life ahead of him.  He looses his life in a tragic car accident.  As his family struggles to recover from this tragedy Rose (Mulligan) shows up on their door step pregnant with Bennett's baby.  Bennett's mother Grace (Sarandon) seems to be having the most difficult time accepting the loss of her son and has a very negative reaction to Rose's presence.  Can this fragmented family pull themselves together and welcome this new gift of life or will they totally buckle under the pain of grief and miss out on the very thing that should bring them together?

• My mom and I walked into blockbuster, took one look at this and agreed we wanted to see it even though we had never heard a thing about it.  I saw Carey Mulligan in An Education and could tell right away that she is one of those actresses who will likely rarely ever have a bad movie so I had a feeling it would be good.  Turns out, it was even better then I expected.
• Mulligan did a great job playing the role of Rose.  Smart, pretty, spunky.  She was likable from the very beginning and it actually made sense that Bennett admired her from afar and never got the courage to speak until the last day of school.
• This is a love story but I didn't really anticipate that it would be.  I love the way the story of Rose and Bennett evolves throughout the story line.  We can guess, but don't find out the nature of their relationship right away.  With a series of flashbacks we finally get the whole story by the end and it's not what you might think.  Great script.  Great storyline and concept.
• Sarandon and Brosnan of course were excellent.  There was a lot of emotion and drama and every actor delivered it well.
• There isn't anything I didn't love about this one.

5 STARS