Free Ride

"Free Ride," the feature film debut of Shana Betz, who wrote the screenplay, has the benefit of being the true story of a part of her childhood and is narrated by her alter-ego, the grown-up Shell. From top to bottom, it feels authentic, and its laid-back, nonjudgmental tone evokes the easygoing world of Jimmy Buffett songs celebrating how changes in latitude bring changes in attitude. Much of the movie seems bathed in the pink-grapefruit haze of a Florida sunset.

Before long, Christina and the girls are moved from a seedy motel to a farmhouse with a barn that shelters a horse for M J but also doubles as a drug warehouse that the girls are forbidden to enter. The domestic drama focuses on Christina's increasingly fraught relationship with the sullen, rebellious M J, who is itching for grown-up adventure and balks at having to take care of Shell while their mother is away on business.

Their conflict comes to an ugly head after Christina allows M J to accompany a drug-addicted acquaintance, Rain (Brit Morgan), to a rock concert. Ms. Morgan's Rain is a frighteningly accurate portrait of a bitter, superannuated groupie on the skids.

"Free Ride" is shrewdly cast. Ms. Paquin balances her character's two sides: the caring mother and the pragmatic working-class survivor who does what is necessary to survive. Cam Gigandet is equally believable as Ray, a shady, laid-back hunk with whom she flirts and who is the closest thing to a love interest. Ms. De Matteo is all sharp edges as the tough Sandy, who ominously disappears. That's the thing about this world: People tend to vanish at the first sign of trouble.

"Free Ride" offers an unsettling vision of a demimonde whose inhabitants live with the reality that there may be no tomorrow.

It's 1977. Christina Willand (Anna Paquin) escapes her abusive partner taking her daughters MJ (Liana Liberato) and Shell (Ava Acres) from Barberton, Ohio to Sandy (Drea de Matteo) in Florida. Christina gets a job cleaning mansions. Sandy gets her involved dealing with Ray (Cam Gigandet) and the Bossman. They are soon transporting large amounts of drugs. The family is given a house to live in while the Bossman stores drugs in the barn.

I think this movie is set up for something better. Instead, the story just lays there without sustained drama. It's a bit random and disjointed. Christina as a character doesn't change enough to be compelling. This may be better off as a movie about MJ and her relationship with her mother. Her character changes much more from telling her little sister to come clean about stealing gum to dealing with her drug transporting mom to falling into troubled herself. She's traveling a more compelling journey. I also don't understand why they wouldn't dramatize the climatic crash with Sandy instead of the new character Rain. This is supposedly director/writer Shana Betz's real life as the character Shell and maybe she didn't fictionalize the story enough. She needs to rewrite this with an eye towards making a compelling story.

This film tells the story of a young woman who gets involved with drug trade in order to raise her two daughters.

A good thing about "Free Ride" is that it stays true to the period of 70's, even the font is very 70's. Even though the film is fast paced, the plot is not so well developed. It's not so thrilling, and towards the end it's even confusing. After watching the whole film, and re-watching some critical parts of it, I still don't understand what exactly Christina got for the free ride. I don't understand why the girl going to the concert had to lie to MJ and goes berserk in the car. Maybe the story telling can improve a little, but I think the dirty length of the film is another merit.

Anna Paquin leads a very competent cast to portray Christina, a mother of two who flees an abusive relationship. She heads south into an ever increasing storm of drug influenced business - as their lives become paradoxically easier and more difficult at the same time.

The lead roles are compelling, with Paquin showing moments of superior skill, proving that her Oscar from 1993 was no fluke.

As it's a true story, the story line is a series of dramatized facts, woven together in a nearly challenging way.

The attention to 1970s set, wardrobe and script (a Walton's reference!) was superb - throwing my head space back into my own 1970s childhood a number of times.

The movie could have been preachy, but wasn't - it instead conveys the practical necessities that sometimes cloud choices. Christina was confronted with truly desperate situation, and we are left to consider the magnitude of that in a world more sexist than today.

I was left with the sense that this movie entirely escapes the worst of Hollywood, rather it has an Indie feel to it that I found enjoyable.

While not a perfect film I thought it was none the less very good. Great performances by all of the cast and really took me back to the 70's style wise. I liked the music as well but mostly I liked Anna Paquin. She plays a mom that is pretty strong and and loves her girls but knows she has to take risks to take care of them. There could have been a bit more character development and perhaps more interaction at school for the girls but keeping it from being too long won out in the end I believe. For a true story I think it deserves a watch and feel confident that it is at least worth a 7 out of 10. Few will be disappointed .... Cheers