This Movie is Rated R – For Language, Some Sexual Content and Drug Use
Mercer (Lou Taylor Pucci) is a 19-year-old guy that is feeling trapped and lost. He had to drop out of high school when his mother became terminally ill with cancer. She died 8 ½ months ago. All his friends have since graduated and moved on with their lives. He doesn’t know his father and he hasn’t seen his half-brother, Arlen (who is 18 years older than him), since he was 5 years old. Basically, Mercer is all alone.
He feels, that in order to move on with his life, he needs to find Arlen and tell him that their mother died. Maybe getting some closure for himself while he’s at it. The last address he has for him is in Shelter Cove, California. Mercer lives in Eugene, Oregon, so that means he needs to come up with some form of transportation to get to California.
The idea that he comes up with is to steal a car. A guy he knows works at the local car wash, so Mercer asks if he can borrow his work shirt. Now that he looks like an employee, he can easily get into one of the cars and just drive off. Which is just what he does.
As he is driving along OR-126, on his way to the Oregon Coast, a cell phone suddenly starts ringing. One problem though, he doesn’t have one. Which can only mean it was in the car when he took it. This causes him to have a bit of a panic attack. After he calms down, he answers the phone. Guess who it is? That’s right, it’s the owner of the car.
Mercer is very polite. Tells her that he will return the car after his trip and even offers to do chores or something to make up for taking it. She abruptly ends the call (because her spaghetti is ready), but not before calling him by his name. Which comes as a great surprise him to say the least.
He makes it to his destination, Shelter Cove. As it turns out, the address he has is for an artist’s commune, where they make pottery. Arlen hasn’t lived there for a while, but the people there are pleasant and nice to him. With the exception of Nick, who was really not happy to hear Arlen’s name mentioned and results in Mercer getting punched in the face. After things calm down, Mercer is told last they heard Arlen was living in Reno, Nevada.
So Mercer heads off to his next destination. Which happens to be very close to the town that Joely (Jena Malone), a girl he knew in middle school, now lives. Who, by the way, he also had a huge crush on. He decides it might be worthwhile to make a slight detour and look her up. After they talk for a bit, she volunteers to go to Reno with him. Somehow, I don’t think she’s the same girl he knew in middle school. She is on the wild side and seems more interested in her own agenda than what Mercer is trying to accomplish.
Every time Mercer thinks he is getting closer to finding Arlen it turns out that he has moved somewhere else. As he talks to people that knew his brother, he finds that he might not be a very nice person. He keeps heading for each new destination, hoping that it will be the last one.
Throughout his trip he has long cell phone conversations with Kate (Zooey Deschanel), the owner of the car he stole. They have really hit it off and enjoy talking to each other. They can just as easily talk to each other about silly things or serious things. A long distance friendship (or maybe more) is beginning to develop between them.
I enjoyed this movie. It is a slower paced, meandering kind of movie (like a road trip should be). With quirky people popping up along the way. The heart of the movie is Mercer, dealing with his mother’s death and trying to find who he is and where he wants his life to go. Also discovering that maybe he needs to let go of the past to be able to move towards his future.
Lou is fabulous as Mercer. This is the type of character he excels at. He is polite, sweet, vulnerable and rather naive. Which can lead to people taking advantage of him. Lou is able to make you really feel for the character and bring out the protective side of the viewer. I just wanted to give him a hug and help fix his life for him.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Kate – “You don’t look much like a thief.”
Mercer – “To whom am I speaking?”
Kate – “Whom? It’s my car and my phone that you’re talking on and just don’t try to be polite okay. Try sounding crazy or tough.”
Nick – “I’m a lapsed Buddhist, but I still love everybody, except that f*ck@ss Arlen.”
Kate – “We were weighing fate vs. coincidence, the meaning of life, then I had to get my spaghetti.”
Mercer – “Do you think it would be okay if we have sex with each other?”
Mercer – “Hey, do you ever wonder if people just start bands to make the rest of us feel like crap?”
Mercer – “It’s kind of disappointing never to be chased.”
Kate – “Is this now officially a crime spree?”
Mercer – “Well, if you knew what that camera was for I think you would have stolen it too.”
Mercer – “If you don’t watch enough TV you make people nervous.”
Helpful Guy – “Should have told me. I’d never throw a man to the lions and watch him lose his hat.”
Martin Hynes is the writer/director of this movie. He grew up in Eugene, Oregon, which is why the movie starts from there. He had a lot of fun using places that were nostalgic for him; the street he used to deliver newspapers on, his old high school, his cousin’s place in Springfield (which is right next door to Eugene). I got a kick out of seeing OR-126 (the winding road with the tunnel that was shown early on). I’m originally from the Oregon Coast area and still have family there. I can’t tell you how many times I driven along that road.
Jan
Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
I really disliked the character of Joely. Poor Mercer, he just kept trying to see her as she used to be. Which meant he couldn’t see her as the manipulative b*tch that she has become. I was afraid he would never get away from her.
The development of the friendship between Mercer and Kate was wonderful. I loved how they could talk forever, about pretty much anything. Mercer found that she was someone he could really confide in, which was something he desperately needed.
What happened when he finally found Arlen was devastating. It certainly wasn’t the warm family reunion he was hoping for. I felt so bad for Mercer, he may have had unrealistic expectations, but he didn’t deserve the treatment he got.
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