Blue Car

Life as it too often is: no heroes, no villains, just flawed people trying -- and, too often, failing -- to do the right thing. Applause to all concerned for their willingness to show tragedy without demonizing the people who create it. One of the most moving films I've ever seen.

Writer/Director Karen Moncrieff does not deserve the acting talent of Agnes Bruckner. It's the 18 year old actress who has a brilliant future. The script is pedestrian, riddled with cliches and clumsy tone shifts. Blue Car looks even worse when compared to other recent American independent films with teenage protagonists like RAISING VICTOR VARGAS and David Gordon Green's ALL THE REAL GIRLS. Films that display visual imagination and inspired writing. Moncrieff should return to television, or at least leave the scriptwriting to others.

It's always nice to come across a little gem of a film like this one is. The characters are crafted so well that there is nary a false note in the entire piece. The dynamics between the daughter (Meg) and her mother, Meg and her sister, and Meg and her teacher all ring true; at times painfully so. As things so often occur in real life, this was no neat little package of events and resolutions but characters stumbling through situations making good and bad decisions and coming out on the other side having learned something from their experiences. Why can't everyone write like this! Kudos to Karen Moncrief for showing such great respect for her audience. I hope you have many more opportunities to add to your writing and directing resume. I've seen tons of films and very few of them are standouts. This is one of them.

How often do you see a movie which does a good job of portraying the real complexities of a relationship? In other hands this would have ended up as a crass made-for-TV movie, but in Moncrieff's talented hands the characters have a real chance to be the flawed but still moving personalities they are. A wonderful and different coming-of-age story and a subtle treatment of several relationships, each of which turns out to be more complex than even the characters initially understand. A great example of a fine film on a very modest budget. My only criticism is that I would have liked to hear more about the evolution of the story from the writer's perspective during the DVD commentary. That criticism has nothing to do with the film itself.

"Blue Car" looks long and hard at a middle class teen female poetry student (Bruckner) who struggles with unhappy circumstances, the vicissitudes of her age, and discovers the yin-yang of human nature too often leans toward the negative. The young protag, well represented by Bruckner, finds herself with inadequate coping skills as she discovers the limits of dependability of the only person on whom she can depend - herself. A very substantial drama given it's indie-ness, writer/director Moncrieff conjures convincing performances and delivers some important subliminal messages about the pitfalls and foibles of life. Good stuff for what it is. Recommended for more mature realists. (B+)

Small but recommendable film about a young girl, growing up in an unstable environment with a lack of people who care for her and various people abusing her. Agnes Bruckner gives an excellent performance as Meg. The story isn't something refreshing and new, but it doesn't disturbs me. The subject is handled very well and the co-actors are good as well, although Bruckner's performance is by far the best. I also saw her in "Home Room" but her role in that movie is very small. Excellent directing debut by Karen Moncrieff. She managed to make it a remarkable debut. "Blue Car" is an enjoyable film who's certainly worth watching. 7.5/10

BLUE CAR (2003) **** David Strathairn, Agnes Bruckner, Margaret Colin, Frances Fisher, A.J. Buckley, Regan Arnold, Sarah Beuhler, Dustin Sterling, Mike Ward. Excellent indie festival hit about a teenage girl (Bruckner in a heartbreakingly raw turn) whose only solace from her crumbling domestic life is in her gift as a poet is mentored by her well-meaning but clearly coercive English teacher (Strathairn in one of his best performances) who goads her into a contest. First time filmmaker Karen Moncrieff delivers a truly audacious debut with a gift for character development and strong narrative as well as a shrewd cast (Colin gives her best turn too as Bruckner's downward spiraling mom and young Arnold as her baby sister is absolutely stunning) adds a lift above the norm in coming-of-age flicks that resonates with pitch-perfect depictions of a young woman coming into her own. One of the year's best films.