Middle of Nowhere

No one ever said that being a teenager is an easy time in life. Grace (played by Eva Amurri) needs money to get into college because her mother Rhonda (played by Susan Sarandon) has been using credit cards that’s in Graces name but has not paid them off. With the only plan she can think of to start paying off the credit cards, Grace gets a job at a local water amusement park where she meets Dorian (played by Anton Yelchin). Soon after the two teens start making money in an illegal manner that makes them be together for longer periods of time.

Middle of Nowhere a story about some teens that have a rough life and are trying to figure out how to make it through each day. Grace, her mother seems to be out for herself, she’s lost her father, her younger sister is being controlled by her mother, and she just wants to make some money so she can go to school. Dorian has been adopted while trying to work out his feelings over everyone he knows. Nothing really much to the story other than troubled teens during a moment of their lives.

I wasn’t too impressed with Middle of Nowhere. It’s not a big budget, action movie, nor is it a movie that made me change the way I think or feel by the end of it. There’s some heartache in the plot that has been done in a lot of movies, though it’s the impact it has on the viewer will remain the same, so it works. That is, being a teenager that thinks they have the worst life in the world, having feelings for someone, and just trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives.

The acting in Middle of Nowhere is decent enough, nothing too great, but it works for the film. Eva Amurri plays her role Grace, who is the main character of the story who wants to change her life. At some moments it seems like Eva Amurri is struggling with her understanding of the character. Anton Yelchin does a good job with the character of Dorian who is just this uncomfortable teenage boy.

What surprised me the most about Middle of Nowhere is that Susan Sarandon didn’t play a larger role in the film. Though her character is not that pivotal to the flow of the movie, she is a big name actor that I thought would have more of a role in it. I also was surprised to find out that Eva Amurri is the real life daughter of Susan Sarandon but they did work well together in Middle of Nowhere.
One thing I didn’t like about Middle of Nowhere was some of the songs being played during the movie. At one point at the beginning of the movie, there is a scene where the music is almost drowning out the lines of the characters. If it had been a party scene where the music is needed that would have been semi ok, but this is not that. This is a scene where the music is just supposed to be an underlying sound that amps up the moment in the scene. But because the music is louder than it should be all it does is make the moment weak. Good side though, the Blu-Ray is crisp and sharp making some of the scenes jump out because they are so good.