Free Ride

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

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 movie is written exactly how things used to happen in 1977 Florida. It was very true to the time period. I grew up in this area at this time. Although it jumped a little it did get the story through.

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.

This must be the most boring drug trafficking movie ever made. True, it is supposed to be following real life, which often lacks drama, but it also follows the tired script of unfortunate single mothers making bad choices, told from the perspective of their amazing daughters, so it's not really educative either. It's unclear if the script is poorly researched and light on facts, or if these drug smugglers just lead empty lives, but the whole thing has a thin TV atmosphere. The most dramatic scene is when the little girl is attacked by ants (I won't spoil it for by revealing her fate). The film itself is made well enough, and Anna Paquin looks good lounging on a boat, but the only thing I cared about was getting to the end of this pretty homage to frivolous crime.