Middle of Nowhere

The story starts off with 18 year old Grace(Eva Amurri) being rejected a student loan due to a bad credit history. After her father died, her mother Rhonda (Susan Sarandon) took out credit cards in her name, maxed them out and didn't paid them back. Devastated by the possibility of not going to college Grace starts working a 4 dollar an hour job at Baton Rouge's water park. That's where she meets Dorian Spitz (Anton Yelchin), a 17 year old who is tired of having to meet his adoptive parents expectations and just wants to get away. Grace and Dorian bond very quickly and Dorian tries to convince Grace into going in business with him. Dorian's business consists of selling pot, mainly to rich kids. Grace is reluctant at first but she accepts the offer in hopes of making just the amount of money she needs to go to college. Along for the ride is Grace's 15 year old sister Taylor Elizabeth (Willa Holland)who is being forced into a modeling career by her mother. Middle Of Nowhere is an extremely well written indie and the direction is impeccable. Its a a very honest story that relates more to real life then most films do. The acting was superb, specially Anton Yelchin who delivered a flawless performance and considering some of his other work, he seems to be a really promising actor and on the rise. Overall, In The Middle of Nowhere is a great piece of work that combines several genres and feels like a breath of fresh air. One of the best indies I have ever seen.

8.5/10

This is a really beautiful, sincere film that deserves way more recognition than it's gotten so far. The story is down-to-earth; the characters are real people. This movie had perhaps the most realistic representation of teenagers that I've ever seen, in all their wackiness, insecurities, and surprising maturity. I was especially struck by Willa Holland's performance as 15-year-old Taylor: pretty without being overly sexy, immature but with emotional depth. The cinematography was elegant; a focus on the innocent play of water park guests gave the film heart. I encourage you to watch this movie; it will surprise you!

Middle of Nowhere is a touching character study given an extra resonance by pairing the real life mother & daughter Susan Sarandon & Eva Amurri, playing a mother & daughter. Susan Sarandon takes a back seat while Eva Amurri really shines in her role as Grace, the older of two daughters being raised by her mother after their father's suicide. While mother's attention is focused on getting her younger daughter to modeling school, Grace has to find a summer job to raise money to fulfill her ambition of going to medical school. She does get a job at a water park where he meets Dorian (Anton Yelchin) who has an unusual scheme to find money to get Grace to college.

This movie is full of real characters with whom is easy to identify and empathize with. The acting is great with Amurri and Yelchin the standouts.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE is one of those surprise films that appear to have gone direct to DVD - not because they are unworthy of theater showing but because they are thinking films rather than explosively entertaining/CGI/3D extravaganzas. The script (Michelle Morgan) is smart, the concepts are viable and refreshingly not overdone, the direction (John Stockwell) shows great respect for the talents of the actors, and the cast is as solid as could be assembled for a film about touchy subjects. The theme that is born at the beginning of this film and grows in importance right to the end is the parent/child conundrum: when is parenting adequate and what are the drivers for dysfunctional family units.

Grace Berry (Eva Amurri, in a very natural and focused tough role) explains to a college scholarship counselor (Sharon London) that she needs financial aid to begin her higher education to become a doctor, but though she is a brilliant student, the counselor refuses to award a scholarship because of Grace's exceptionally bad credit rating. Distraught, Grace challenges her mother Rhonda (Susan Sarandon) when she discovers Rhonda has used Grace's name to open credit cards and has spent them to the limit. Grace needs big money to attend college and her summer job at the water park in town is minimum wage only. Also working at the water park is the happy-go-lucky Dorian (Anton Yelchin) who flirts with disaster, having found an 'extra job' selling weed to the rich folks of the city. After a lot of patter Dorian gently coerces Grace into being his driver (Dorian has no car, having been grounded for misbehavior by his grumpy uncle who is serving as relief for Dorian's adoptive parents), and the two begin a quality friendship that fills emotional and financial gaps in each of their lives.

But the truth about Grace and Dorian's parents surfaces: Dorian was given up by his 15-year- old mother for religious reasons and has been placed with quasi-appropriate wealthy parents; Grace lives with the knowledge that her father committed suicide only to come to discover that the suicide was the result of discovering that Rhonda was (and still is) having an affair with his brother Bob (William Haze). Grace's discovery comes through a conversation with her Aunt Polly (Karen Bramen, in an excellent role for this new actress) and Grace's mother-favored younger sister Taylor (Willa Holland), and the revelation sets off a series of events that propels the story to an end. Yes, there are sidebars expected in stories of teenagers: Grace falls in lust with rich kid Ben (Justin Chatwin); Taylor rebels against her mother by cutting her hair thus ending her mother's obsession with Taylor's becoming a model and Taylor seduces Dorian; Dorian confronts his birth mother; there are fights where Dorian is injured and finds himself alone without family support. But without a sugarcoated finale, the film ends quietly, affirming the importance of friends - a kind of love than can replace gaping holes in family relationships.

The movie truly belongs to Eva Amurri who proves she is becoming as fine an actress as her mother, Susan Sarandon. The film also allows Anton Yelchin to demonstrate a much broader range to his acting than he has been given before. The entire cast is excellent. This is a coming of age story - with far more attention being paid to the adult end of the developmental spectrum.

Grady Harp

This film is about a teenage girl who is trying to finance her college. As she does not get the support she needs from her mother, she has to find alternative measures.

"Middle of Nowhere" wants to cover a lot of emotions by having many subplots. It wants to tell a teenage girl's struggle financially, her relationship with her family, and also her romantic life. I think it wants to be too much, sometimes it is a touching drama about broken family dynamics, sometimes it is a drama about teenage romance, and sometimes it is an introspective, self searching drama. It ends up not being very engaging, and a bit unfocused. Even though the scene where Grace confronts her mother about the death of the father is very touching, it could have had even higher impact if the script was tighter.