IT'S ALWAYS BAD

nogodnomasters

Based on a true story that takes place in Iowa. Agnes (Jennifer Lawrence) is a 14 year old girl advanced for her age. She plays basketball, does calculus, holds down a local job, keeps the household together and gives dry boring narration about her life and dogs biting. Her mother (Selma Blair) owns the Poker House" which is known for poker, gambling, drinking, prostitution, and apparently drugs, although the nightly antics are basically limited to one night, so the audience never got the real feeling of despair.

Bee (Sophi Bairley) is 12 years old and delivers papers. She stays at the neighbors whenever possible. Cammie (Chloë Grace Moretz) is the youngest and in spite of all the praise for J-Law, I couldn't wait for her character to come on screen as she rattled off at the mouth.

The story is slow. It spends time to fully develop the sisters' characters. Agnes, is coming of age and has a touch of Jungle Fever, which becomes both her demise and finally salvation. It is an interesting tale, but it felt incomplete. Personally I thought Lawrence's acting in "Winterbone" smoked this one.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, rape, nudity (Selma Blair) 3 1/2 stars

The film leads you to believe this was the bio for Lori Petty but her IMDB bio reads: "She spent her childhood traveling the US with her father, a Pentecostal minister. Her keen talents first lent themselves toward being a graphic artist in Omaha, Nebraska, but an impulsive desire to act quickly took precedence and soon she was off to New York"

"She was the first female editor of the North High School newspaper and graduated in 1982.
Attended North High School, Sioux City, Iowa, where she was involved in Yearbook and speech/debate."

The film suggests she left for NYC at 14. Seems to be some missing story.

score 8/10

nogodnomasters 23 November 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4474019/