Then again, an adult wrote Nola’s dialogue. But Nola is more principled than I, and also more perceptive and articulate than I was at her age - which is 14? 16? 18? unclear - and I was pretty perceptive and articulate at those ages, if also locked in a prison of self-loathing. For me, it would have been the steady diet of gas-station hot dogs. This is what breaks Nola: wanting to see how a movie ends. Clint is so restless that he can’t sit through a movie (check minus) - he would rather see what’s on the screen in the theater next door. Yup, you guessed it: Nola longs for the seemingly trivial experiences of regular, square life. How can she rebel, when her father already has chosen for her a life that rejects convention and expectation as well as responsibility and human connection? But Nola lives on the road in a refurbished RV with her father Clint ( Steven Ogg, channeling Jack Nicholson as Captain Fantastic), without a permanent home and the roots and responsibilities that go with it. If they’re vegetarian, eat cheeseburgers. If they’re meat eaters, become a vegetarian. Embrace what they hate, or pretend to embrace it. Consider the most-common way kids rebel against their parents. That’s because Nola’s story is like a rumspringa in reverse. However, a more fitting title might be The Long History of the Short Road. Nevertheless, I quickly became biased in favor of Nola ( Sabrina Carpenter) and this movie about her maturation. Next time, and the time after that, I would love to see a story like this with a protagonist who is a young person of color and/or queer and/or trans and/or disabled and/or in the foster system and/or… I could go on, but surely you get the picture. Writer/director/producer Ani Simon-Kennedy also is female. The Short History of the Long Road is a coming-of-age story with elements we need more of: female protagonist (check) who doesn’t chase a boy (check plus), experience unplanned pregnancy and/or sexual assault (check plus plus) or find herself victimized, exploited or violently harmed ( noyce!). Starring Sabrina Carpenter, Maggie Siff, Danny Trejo and Steven Ogg Written and directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
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