Things I Liked About The Movie:
. Sabrina Grdevich as Lola brings an intriguing screen presence to the role of a woman who may only reach her true potential by becoming someone else. It is impossible to determine what an attractive complex woman is thinking at the best of times and when you consider that the title character is going through a profound transition in her life it is no wonder the men she meets on her road to a new self realization look suitably baffled. . I like the way director Carl Bessai contrasts the urban rush of Vancouver traffic with the serene beauty of the British Columbia Interior. It is only when Lola leaves the jangle and confusion of the city and heads out into those windswept wide open spaces that she begins to achieve some sort of clarity. She flashes back to her chance encounter with Sandra (Joanna Going, memorable in a small role). Lola only spent a few hours with her new friend before tragedy struck but the woman made a deep impression on her. Lola is finally able to see her life with insensitive husband Mike (played by the reliably fine Colm Feore)for the emotional dead end that it is. Like Atom Egoyan in "The Sweet Hereafter" Bessai uses landscape to put character and story development into a psychological context. (The rugged mountainous terrain of the Interior is like a Canadian equivalent of John Ford's Monument Valley westerns.) . Like all stubbornly idiosyncratic independent pictures this film moves at its only deliberate unhurried pace with Bessai giving his lead actress lots of room to explore the nuances of her character. Some readers have complained that the film moves along too slowly and nothing much happens along the way. They miss the fact that much of the action here is on an internal level. As a lifelong fan of the female mystique I find Ms. Grdevich's face fascinating to watch as her character sorts through issues of identity, love and loss and finally decides to get a life ... even if it is not her own.
