James 'Speedy' Reedy (Nick Stahl) takes in his sister Joleen (Charlize Theron) and her daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) after Joleen's boyfriend Warren gets caught growing pot. Joleen takes off with another guy. James is a hopeless slacker. He loses his job after missing work trying to find Joleen for Tara's sake. Social services puts Tara into foster care. James move into the basement of his friend Randall (Woody Harrelson). Tara runaways from her foster parents and James takes her on a road trip ending up back home with his cruel father (Dennis Hopper) on his rundown farm.
There is a bit of misdirection. This turns out to be Nick Stahl's movie and his sleepwalking through his troubled life. His character is very inert in contrast to the more intriguing Charlize Theron. She doesn't get to interact with the other characters for most of the movie. AnnaSophia Robb tries to play the wild child character with mixed results. Dennis Hopper turns into a crazy character which puts to question why James would go back home. The depressed tone drags the story down despite its strong cast.
There is a bit of misdirection. This turns out to be Nick Stahl's movie and his sleepwalking through his troubled life. His character is very inert in contrast to the more intriguing Charlize Theron. She doesn't get to interact with the other characters for most of the movie. AnnaSophia Robb tries to play the wild child character with mixed results. Dennis Hopper turns into a crazy character which puts to question why James would go back home. The depressed tone drags the story down despite its strong cast.