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Movie Description
For her directorial debut, Joey Lauren Adams (CHASING AMY) offers this humble, small-town character study of Lucy (Ashley Judd), a 30-something Arkansas woman who, though a contractor by day, hits the bars--and often the bedrooms of strange men--after dark. Though hardworking and well-liked in the community, she's inherited the emotional unavailability of her stoic father (Scott Wilson, IN COLD BLOOD), a frustrated guitar player whose boozing and womanizing destroyed his marriage to Lucy's mother. But when Lucy meets new-guy-in-town and all-around good catch Cal (Jeffrey Donovan), who cares enough to get to know Lucy outside of the bar and the bedroom, she discovers that after nearly 20 years, a habit can be hard to break, and intimacy without alcohol can be a scary thing.
Part rural family drama, part romance, Adams's screenplay sidesteps the typical cutesy, small-town clichés, giving us a strong female lead with real flaws and deep roots in authentic surroundings. Following several years of big-budget studio productions with what could be a continuation of her first starring role in 1993's RUBY IN PARADISE, Judd paints Lucy with subtle touches that allow her mistakes to endear her to us rather than frustrate. Subtlety is the film's strength: Adams's scoring of a key seduction scene, the sound of chirping crickets, the small changes we see in Lucy during the course of the film, the well-chosen country soundtrack, and Tim Orr's restrained camera work. A great supporting cast, including Wilson, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson, and Laura Prepon helps Adams bring a five-year labor of love to vivid life.
Industry Reviews
"Ashley Judd returns to the Southern working-class milieu of her first screen triumph, RUBY IN PARADISE, to deliver he most natural screen performance since that film pushed her toward stardom in 1993."
New York Times - Stephen Holden (11/10/2006)
"[T]he real revelation of this touching and fine-grained character study...is the splendid job that Joey Lauren Adams did writing and directing it." -- Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (11/24/2006)
"[S]moothly directed....Greatly enhanced by the acting. Ashley Judd gives an unsentimental performance..."
Movieline's Hollywood Life - Stephen Farber (11/01/2006)
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