Back Roads

They say there is no accounting for taste and I agree with that but sometimes there is a standard for what is acceptable for good if not terrific and when somebody here says that Juliette Lewis cannot act I don't think they've seen enough of her films Another review hear that caught my attention for the opposite reason was this reviewer said sagely in my opinion that initially it was difficult to understand where this film was going and when it did become apparent the slowness of it was Paramount to bringing about the telling of this particular story

So one reviewer called it trash and all the characters trashy losers, I don't get that. Either she cut out early before becoming aware of why these poor abused kids were the way they were or she just a snob who looks down her nose at people who are not as fortunate as her. Director and actor Alex Pettyfor obviously wanted to show people the horror of child abuse and the spiderweb of messed up things created after the trauma. I felt he did an amazing job of showing this. There's not much worse than child abuse except for people who call them trash for the way they handle that trauma. My heart goes out to all of them as well as my prayers! Ty Alex Pettyfor!

After a mother (Juliette Lewis) goes to prison for shooting her husband in a backwater town in the Eastern USA, a young man (Alex Pettyfer) has to forsake college and take care of his three younger sisters, including a teenage hellion (Nicola Peltz). Meanwhile a wife who lives down the lane catches his interest (Jennifer Morrison).

"Back Roads" (2018) is a melancholy psychological family drama with a crime element that could be classified as Southern Gothic. While the events take place in Western Pennsylvania they could occur in any backwater community in the Eastern USA or Canada. The film was shot in St. Francisville, Louisiana, which is a half-hour drive north of Baton Rouge along the Mississippi.

Films that come to mind include "Mud" (2012), "Joe" (2013), "Winter's Bone" (2010), "Undertow" (2004), "Snow Angels" (2007), "Monster's Ball" (2001) and "The Fugitive Kind" (1960). The flick leaves you with a bad taste because it deals with some ugly things and features painful emotions, not to mention it's unrelentingly gloomy. If you think your family growing up was dysfunctional, you ain't seen nothing. But, if you reflect on the movie and the understated clues, everything makes sense and is well-written, based on Tawni O'Dell 1999 novel. Just don't expect a pleasant time.

The film runs 1 hour, 41 minutes.

GRADE: B-/C+

Back Roads is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It's the car accident on the side of the freeway at which you can't help but stare. Bad family situations and dysfunction grow progressively worse as more and more buried facts and emotions are revealed. So sad, it is on the scale of a Greek tragedy, except our hero is not to at all blame, making this a true drama/melodrama. Direction and acting are superb. This is not your typical action/horror/superhero bubble gum fare. This is for intelligent and sensitive adults with patience and appreciation for human suffering. One could argue it is heavy handed, with all the layers upon layers of misfortune and dysfunction, yet that clearly is the intent of the story. Our hero is so admirable and relatable, charged with the responsibility of raising, protecting, and otherwise caring for his three younger sisters, but in many ways, he is still a child himself, and a scarred one at that. Living in this impossibly chaotic and crazy situation on a day to day basis makes a predictable, restrained life in an asylum or penitentiary seem to be a step up. Now I want to read the novel.

I loved this movie in all it's aspects. The acting is very good, especially the main actor, who is superb showing the right emotions (or lack of them) after his life is shaken by traumatic incidents. The plot is very well writen and the timing and pace describs the right predict interest line. The story is always actual as it shows a hard and very hidden reality. And yes, there is some atrocity, cause the reality sometimes (more than we wanted) is also atrocious! I didn't find it slow. But if you think that it is, what's that suppose to mean? Aren't "Paris Texas", "2001 Space Odyssey"; "Fargo"; "There will be blood"; or even "The Godfather" awesome slow paced movies? Also I love Julliet Lewis. So good to watch her again in a movie. Love it.