Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Thora Birch, Johnny Knoxville
Running Time: 104 minutes
Synopsis: In rural and economically depressed Pikeville, Kentucky, Susan Smith (Emilia Clarke) is a young single mom, addicted to drugs and surrounded by good-for-nothing men including abusive ex-husband Cash (Johnny Knoxville). Dashing and newly-minted FBI agent Mark Putnam (Jack Huston) arrives in town with his wife and child, eager to build a career reputation. He uses Susan as an informant to nab a bank robber, with Susan willing to snitch on her community in the hope that Mark will provide her an escape and a fresh start. They embark on a torrid affair with no good outcomes.
What Works Well: Based on actual events, this drama benefits from a ramshackle small town milieu harbouring dark ambitions. Susan is willing to do anything to escape Pikeville, and Mark is just as eager to place this backwater of a stepping stone behind him and move up in his career. They use each other in an unspoken pact of mutual manipulation. Emilia Clarke obliterates her Englishness and sinks into an epic white trash performance, her narration augmenting a script dripping with weary wisdom.
What Does Not Work As Well: Neither Susan, a drug addicted welfare cheat and homewrecker, nor Mark, an immoral exploiter, represent remotely sympathetic characters. Not unexpectedly, the drama flails in an unappealing morass of distasteful behaviour.
Key Quote:
Susan (narrating): That's the way the devil comes. He don't come to you as evil. He don't come to you on fire. He comes as everything you ever wanted. He comes to you as you.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
Susan (narrating): That's the way the devil comes. He don't come to you as evil. He don't come to you on fire. He comes as everything you ever wanted. He comes to you as you.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
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