Although certainly not he worst movie I've ever seen, I felt this indie film was marred by very contrived plot elements and cardboard characters.
Camilla Belle stars as the aloof and mysterious young woman Angie, who's working as a waitress in a small town in Arizona, after traveling from her home country of Brazil to search for someone, although we don't know who or why. At nights, she goes into the desert alone, sleeps in a tent, and paints and sketches.
To add to the mystery , she won't reveal any of her background to co-workers, and rebuffs any of their attempts at socializing with her. Through flashbacks, there's hints of a possible rape at one time, although these may just be recurrent nightmares.
In the desert she befriends a homeless man named Chuck, portrayed by the acclaimed actor Andy Garcia, who sleeps in his broken down truck -- (when she was in school she must have missed the classes in Safety 101 which may have suggested that befriending a homeless man in the middle of the desert at night is not exactly a wise choice). Anyway, Chuck tells Angie that he was once wealthy but "messed up".
He tells Angie she's young and should move on with her life and she takes his advice and hits the open road. She ends up sound asleep, in her car, on the side of the road (again-should have attended that Safety class). She's awoken by a highway patrol officer named David, portrayed by Colin Egglesfield who wants to know if she's alright.
However, her car has blown a head gasket so he offers to help her get towed to a garage in town, as well as a place to stay at his trailer while the repairs go on. They're attracted to each other, but while David seems like a super nice guy Angie still won't reveal anything about her past or who's she looking for on the road..
One of my favorite actresses enters the film at this point Julliete Lewis. She adds life and humor to the movie, in a relatively small role, portraying Jill, who is David's cousin and who runs a diner in town. On his recommendation, she hires Angie as a waitress but warns him not to get too involved with a woman who is so mysterious. David pays little heed though and is ready to introduce her to his mother and perhaps even propose.
Unfortunately, at this point the plot contrivances take off culminating in an ending that I thought was totally absurd and incredulous. When I'm saying out loud to the screen No! You're kidding me !--it's usually not a good sign.
In summary, although the film has some intrigue and humor, the predominance of the contrivances and non-believable characters I thought heavily outweighed the positives.
Camilla Belle stars as the aloof and mysterious young woman Angie, who's working as a waitress in a small town in Arizona, after traveling from her home country of Brazil to search for someone, although we don't know who or why. At nights, she goes into the desert alone, sleeps in a tent, and paints and sketches.
To add to the mystery , she won't reveal any of her background to co-workers, and rebuffs any of their attempts at socializing with her. Through flashbacks, there's hints of a possible rape at one time, although these may just be recurrent nightmares.
In the desert she befriends a homeless man named Chuck, portrayed by the acclaimed actor Andy Garcia, who sleeps in his broken down truck -- (when she was in school she must have missed the classes in Safety 101 which may have suggested that befriending a homeless man in the middle of the desert at night is not exactly a wise choice). Anyway, Chuck tells Angie that he was once wealthy but "messed up".
He tells Angie she's young and should move on with her life and she takes his advice and hits the open road. She ends up sound asleep, in her car, on the side of the road (again-should have attended that Safety class). She's awoken by a highway patrol officer named David, portrayed by Colin Egglesfield who wants to know if she's alright.
However, her car has blown a head gasket so he offers to help her get towed to a garage in town, as well as a place to stay at his trailer while the repairs go on. They're attracted to each other, but while David seems like a super nice guy Angie still won't reveal anything about her past or who's she looking for on the road..
One of my favorite actresses enters the film at this point Julliete Lewis. She adds life and humor to the movie, in a relatively small role, portraying Jill, who is David's cousin and who runs a diner in town. On his recommendation, she hires Angie as a waitress but warns him not to get too involved with a woman who is so mysterious. David pays little heed though and is ready to introduce her to his mother and perhaps even propose.
Unfortunately, at this point the plot contrivances take off culminating in an ending that I thought was totally absurd and incredulous. When I'm saying out loud to the screen No! You're kidding me !--it's usually not a good sign.
In summary, although the film has some intrigue and humor, the predominance of the contrivances and non-believable characters I thought heavily outweighed the positives.