The Short History of the Long Road

Young Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) and her dad basically travel out west and live in their old VW van. He works odd jobs to earn some cash and he teaches his daughter the ways of life. She was named after the city (New Orleans) and they hope to get there at some point. She never knew her mother who left when Nola was a baby and she hopes to someday track her down. When things take a big turn and Nola finds herself alone with the van she has to make a whole new plan, including befriending an auto shop owner and working for him for a time to pay for towing and van repairs. When she finds her mom she learns the whole story, she may have been abandoned but at least she was allowed to live. Striking out alone again she finds a traveling group of van owners, this might be her logical family. This is mostly a quiet movie but a good character study. We had not heard of Sabrina Carpenter before but she is really good in the role, all 5' 1" of her. I found out later she is an accomplished singer and songwriter, maybe we will see more of her. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Never heard of any of the people in this film except for Danny Trejo. But it ended up being one of those accidentally found movies that warms the heart and pleases the soul. Carpenter absolutes nails the role of the young woman left in a camper and no home by her Dad's death, but manages to make her way in the world anyway. The score, the photography, the dialogue, the whole thing is cinematic beauty. Don't miss it.

This is if they knew how to do it: not such a great story but so wonderful told, such a great directoring and damn well plaied made it a soul touching movie!!!

All of us have wanderlust. Whether realized via a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive, a spontaneous road trip, an exotic resort vacation or a lifestyle, we as humans are innately driven to get up, get out and migrate about at various points in our lives. The new drama "The Short History of the Long Road" is all about this need to move. Sabrina Carpenter is wonderful here as Nola, a young woman who has known nothing but crisscrossing America in a clunky vintage van with her vagabond father. Nola is traveling a road to discovery in her young life. We watch as she learns that home is where you make it, a residence of the soul, not limited to physical location nor trappings. And I must give heartfelt props to Writer/Director Ani Simon-Kennedy for "daring" to show Christians who are actually fully dimensional, real people, not caricatures to be exploited and belittled. This shouldn't be bold. But amidst the mentally of the modern motion picture community, it is. God Bless you for sharing your own voice, Ms. Simon-Kennedy. And for not letting it drown in the malicious and mystifying anti-faith messaging flooding your business.

Teenager Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) travels and lives off the grid in a van with her father Clint (Steven Ogg). Suddenly, her father dies and she sets off on her own. It's a struggle. She encounters religious do-gooder Marcie, garage owner Miguel (Danny Trejo), and troubled teen Blue. All the while, she dreams of finding her long absent mother Cheryl. This is an interesting off-the-grid and coming-of-age story. It threatens to be something more intense but it never really push it to the next level. Despite the dangers of the road, she finds only people who are helpful to varying degrees. It is highlighted by a very deep performance from Sabrina Carpenter. One thing I would do is to make the van a much bigger presence. It is the center of many situations and ends up being the final talisman. This is a terrific performance from a young actress in a somewhat compelling story.

Amazing! The writing was emotional, the cinematography beautiful and the acting incredible. Sabrina Carpenter didn't need many lines to bring the character to life, her performance was strong and heartwarming. Look forward to seeing her in more movies!

A story of growth and liberation, with some startling structure issues. Starting this off, Steven Ogg, Maggie Siff and Sabrina Carpenter, absolutely crush it. Danny Trejo lends himself quite well to this film as well, it's the more amateurish actors, that blemish the performances, but they're still quite serviceable. The film is shot well, with the long shots, during the van sequences, being absolutely captivating. The soundtrack, is a tad bit repetitive, but that final song during the ending sequence, is astounding. With that being said, this movie suffers from some weird structure issues towards the 3rd and final act of the film, all in a messy attempt to get to the end. There's a sequence with a character, Marcie, where both her and Nola overreact to the situation, in an obvious attempt to get the film back on track, I guess? But it would have been nice to see Nola, attempt to grow while in this home, surrounded by people she could build a relationship with. But outside of that, it's a pretty enjoyable film, that I've watched on three occasions now and enjoy, with each new viewing.

As a Sabrina fan, I've been waiting for this movie for almost 2 years and seeing it makes me so happy. The story is so well done, the characters are so real and well written. Sabrina's acting is out of this world and I hope she gets the recognition she deserves. Everyone should see this one!

The movie's extremely beautiful cinematography and a brilliant performance from Sabrina Carpenter are unfortunately not enough to make it stand out. It felt really long even though the runtime is just 1h 32min, and that says a lot about this films screenplay, which is the biggest let down. In conclusion, this long road is not a memorable one!