Lead actress Aley Underwood ("Maggy") plays a troubled teen in a world where everything has gone wrong for her: a father who never cared, a boyfriend that breaks up with her to be with her best friend, a band that steals her song (that the best friend sings), getting caught cheating on the math test, getting caught stealing from her mother. But one good thing in Maggy's life is a letter she receives out of the blue that lifts her spirit.
This is the "inciting incident." Aley Underwood carries the entire movie. She shows a great deal of charm and vulnerability (and a strong resemblance to a young Katie Holmes), but she cannot save what amounts to a vanity production. Writer/director/composer/producer Christian Vuissa created something that might have been mildly entertaining for his church group, but as a feature, it fails across the board.
The first thing we noticed is that the sound was not mixed well. That did not bode well for as far as we got, which was about fifty-percent of the film. Next, the dialogue is cliched and stilted and on-the-nose. I felt bad, especially for Aley, that she had to speak in such an unnatural way.
Although the idea is very sweet -- that some elderly man in a seniors' home (Bernie Diamond, looking ancient) writes letters to strangers every day to uplift their spirits, and that somehow one of these letters reaches Maggy and changes her life -- we also have to endure what Christian must imagine to be hit songs sung by Maggy and her questionable band. The first hour is a slog. The last forty minutes have a few tender moments and again, Aley carries the entire production on her young back.
It seems that Aley did not really pursue her career, which is kind of sad. With her smoky eyes, Hollywood smile, and charm and sparkle, she could have carved out a career for herself. At the same time, if these were the type of scripts coming her way, she may have packed up her tent and fled for the hills.
Could have been so much better.
