Gas Food Lodging

I recently watched this film with my husband who grew up in Deming, NM where the film was made. Very authentic story with regard to the lack of anything to do in the small desert towns of NM and the constant desire to get the heck out of there either by running away or using your imagination. Shade is a fantastic character and you will easily fall in love with her. Additionally, once you discover the reason for Trudi's attitude, you'll root for her too instead of wondering her problem is with everyone. This film is a real catch. Wish I heard about it sooner, my husband just remembered it one day when he was telling me how excited everyone was that a movie was being made in Deming. We were surprised to find it was available on Netflix.

I watched this with several guy friends and they all hated it after 10 minutes. I liked this film a lot, even if it didn't have a plot. Ione Skye and Fairuza Balk are really good in this film. Give this one a shot, you might be surprised.

One thing that was disconcerting was the way Allison Anders made this film. It almost seems like the incidents of the film go day after day, and you really can't tell that time has passed at all. But otherwise it's pretty good. 3/5 stars.

I have seen this movie three times, and each time I see it, I appreciate it more. This is a story about a mother and her two daughters, and the personal struggles each go through as they try to be a family. While the movie is slow-paced, I highly enjoyed the cinematography. The ages of the three main characters gives a special insight into the difficulties facing women at different stages in their lives.

Keen adaptation of Richard Peck's novel "Don't Look and It Won't Hurt", starring Brooke Adams in a terrific performance as the single mother of two headstrong young daughters who hopes for a better existence outside their backwater town in New Mexico, but not knowing just how to go about finding it. Arty, intriguing showcase for some very fine actresses (Adams, Ione Skye and the inscrutable Fairuza Balk), as well as James Brolin in a small but telling role as the girls' dreamy-quiet, estranged father. Director Allison Anders, who also adapted the screenplay, does hit an awkward snag or two in exploring these characters' emotions, but her feel for Nowhere U.S.A. is rich with complexity. Moody and unusual, it's a film worth seeing. *** from ****

GAS FOOD LODGING (1992) *** 1/2 Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk, Donovan Leitch, Robert Knepper, James Brolin, David Lansbury, Jacob Vargas. Delightful and at times melancholy story of a single mother raising her troubled daughters as a truck stop waitress. Balk is winning as the introverted younger sibling who has a penchant for Spanish melodramas and '70s nostalgia. Directed nicely by Allison Anders, her debut.