Deborah Kampmeier has written and directed an atmospheric film about life in the South (Alabama to be specific) in the 1950s, using this confused period of time to examine how a child can rise out of her squalid surroundings, replacing her disappointments in expectations of family, friends, and trauma with tenuous grip on the dream of becoming a performer like her idol Elvis Presley.
Fortunate for Kampmeier she cast the rather amazing young Dakota Fanning to inhabit the role of the feisty but abused Lewellen, a headstrong prepubescent girl whose mother deserted her at birth, leaving her to live with her abusive Lothario, worthless father (David Morse) whose current paramour is his ex-wife's sister (Robin Wright Penn) who leaves Lewellen also when the father's abuse and desertion overwhelm. Lewellen's sole friend is young Buddy (Cody Sanford) who shares show and tell games with Lewellen until a promise to find tickets for an Elvis Presley concert includes a 'favor' for Buddy's older friend (the rape sequence that is germinal to the film and all the more powerful for its lack of graphic detail). Lewellen's life crumbles: even her Bible thumping grandmother (Piper Laurie) can't console her, her only support comes form her old African American friend (Afemo Omilami) who is Lewellen's sole visionary source for Lewellen's gift for music and soul jazz. Some change comes when Lewellen's father is struck by lightning, ending his career of philandering and making him dependent on Lewellen for all his needs. How Lewellen rises out of all of this stagnation and arrives at an important life change forms the resolution to this story.
There is not a lot that is novel about this film, but the flavor of the missing connections is improved by the general feeling of the Southern situation in the 50s well captured by the camera work and the music. Dakota Fanning continues to show a remarkable degree of depth in her talent as an actress. Watching the film for her performance alone is worth the time. Grady Harp
Fortunate for Kampmeier she cast the rather amazing young Dakota Fanning to inhabit the role of the feisty but abused Lewellen, a headstrong prepubescent girl whose mother deserted her at birth, leaving her to live with her abusive Lothario, worthless father (David Morse) whose current paramour is his ex-wife's sister (Robin Wright Penn) who leaves Lewellen also when the father's abuse and desertion overwhelm. Lewellen's sole friend is young Buddy (Cody Sanford) who shares show and tell games with Lewellen until a promise to find tickets for an Elvis Presley concert includes a 'favor' for Buddy's older friend (the rape sequence that is germinal to the film and all the more powerful for its lack of graphic detail). Lewellen's life crumbles: even her Bible thumping grandmother (Piper Laurie) can't console her, her only support comes form her old African American friend (Afemo Omilami) who is Lewellen's sole visionary source for Lewellen's gift for music and soul jazz. Some change comes when Lewellen's father is struck by lightning, ending his career of philandering and making him dependent on Lewellen for all his needs. How Lewellen rises out of all of this stagnation and arrives at an important life change forms the resolution to this story.
There is not a lot that is novel about this film, but the flavor of the missing connections is improved by the general feeling of the Southern situation in the 50s well captured by the camera work and the music. Dakota Fanning continues to show a remarkable degree of depth in her talent as an actress. Watching the film for her performance alone is worth the time. Grady Harp