An older married couple are struggling to come to terms with their teenage daughter’s death. The mother hasn’t left the house since the death, while the husband has an affair with a waitress. Communication between the couple is non-existent and the house is cold. The husband, Doug, heads to New Orleans for a work convention and while there goes to a strip-club where he runs into a stripper named Mallory, who bears a passing resemblance to his deceased daughter. Through a number of conversations, Doug convinces Mallory to let him board at her place. While there, Doug begins a friendship with Mallory in a pseudo-parental relationship. Realising just how much she misses her husband, Doug’s wife leaves the house and drives down to New Orleans to be with him.
This is a greatly acted film, especially by James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo who play the husband and wife. They are so believable and you can feel the pain and loss the death of their daughter has brought them. Kristen Stewart plays the stripper and while she is okay in the role, I felt that she was more of a little girl saying dirty words than being believable as a stripper. However it really is Gandolfini’s film and I love the fact that his character never judges Mallory and never once asks her to stop stripping (which is something the wife does immediately). The film is directed by Jake Scott, who is Ridley Scott’s son, and judging from his dad’s films, you could be forgiven in thinking it was going to be all about the visuals – style over substance. The opposite, however, is true as the visuals take a back-seat to the story which was a wise move.
3 Stars - Viewed at the 2010 Melbourne International Film Festival
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