Middle Of Nowhere (2008/Image Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
B-/C+ Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C Film: C-
The teen
coming-of-age movie is not easy to do, but one of the more awkward attempts of
late has been John Stockwell’s Middle Of Nowhere (2008), which wants to
focus on the changes in the life of a young lady, but keeps moving onto other
characters when it cannot figure out what to do with her or how to expand her
character.
Eva
Amurri (Californication) plays
Grace, the older of two sisters wanting to go to college when she takes a job
as a lifeguard at a waterpark. Her
mother (Susan Sarandon as yet another irresponsible counterculture mother) has
been using said daughter’s name to take out credit cards she has yet to pay on,
preventing her from going to college among other things. This never gets beyond the point of soap
opera.
At her
job, Grace meets Dorian (Anton Yelchin of Charlie
Bartlett, Alpha Dog, the Star Trek revival and fourth Terminator film) who wants to get to
know her better, deal drugs and have fun while trying to avoid dealing with his
family who have sent him to the area to live with an annoying, strict
relative. He has issues, but is will to
look out for Grace, who herself becomes interested in Ben (Justin Chatwin of
Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds
remake) who may not be as innocent as he seems.
Michelle
Morgan’s script is far from well-rounded and can never finish anything it
starts, while Stockwell was coming off of a pair of awful duds in Into The Blue (a silly remake of The
Deep) and Turistas (more torture
porn) so he was even less prepared to deal with any material like this and
certainly with any kind of depth. The
cast is likable and even has some chemistry.
They can act and fit well, but they are let down by everything around
them and the film never adds up into anything we have not seen, takes no risks
and is quickly forgotten. Compare to the
far superior Greg Mottola film Adventureland
(reviewed elsewhere in this site) and the flaws are even more painfully
obvious.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is a disappointment, looking soft,
sometimes shockingly so and has more noise than a recent production
should. The anamorphically enhanced DVD is
even poorer with Video Black and detail that suffer further. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix
is slightly warmer than the Dolby Digital 5.1 in the DVD, but both are
dialogue-based mixes with sometimes problematic sound and weak soundfields.
Extras in
both versions are exactly the same and include a Trailer, Cast/Crew Interviews,
Deleted Scenes and a Making Of
featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
