Far from Home

Drew Barrymore stars with Matt Frewer, Jennifer Tilly, Susan Tyrell and Richard MASur in this murder mystery. Barrymore and her father Frewer are stranded at a trailer park owned by Tyrell. They make friends with Tilly and her mother while someone is stalking them one by one. You can probably guess who's doing it but that doesn't take out the suspense or the one liners. Recommended

L.A. writer Charlie Cox (Matt Frewer) and his restless daughter Joleen (Drew Barrymore) are driving home after a cross country trip of the national parks. She's turning 14 and can't wait to return home. They stop at the small desert town of Banco, Nevada. Gas station owner Ducket (Richard Masur) has no gas and Joleen encounters local Jimmy Reed. Sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) is investigating a murder at the store and tells them to go to the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park. It is owned by the hard Agnes Reed with her bad boy son Jimmy and bratty Sissy. There are Louise (Karen Austin) and Amy (Jennifer Tilly) at the park. Also there is nice boy Pinky Sears.

After her childhood success, a young Drew Barrymore is trying to continue with some jailbait roles culminating in 'Poison Ivy'. This could be a tense slasher thriller but the movie plays up the jailbait element at every turn. It's a bit awkward. It would be so much more appealing for her to be a little reserved and play up more of the innocence. She's a very compelling actress and it would make Jimmy Reed more threatening. The music cues for Jimmy get a bit annoying. The Reeds are so over the top that it borders on camp. The narration is mostly unnecessary, the title is too weak and the twist is too obvious. There are some good elements in this like Drew but it also fails in too many places.

Im only one year younger than Drew Barrymore and if teenage boys are anything like I was a few years ago then she will certainly catch eyes with this flick. Though only 14 here, she sports the body of a 20 year old, which is clearly visible in her bathing suit and wet t-shirt scenes, but there is a plot here, too. Shes traveling with her dad through an extremely baron portion of Arizona with no gas left. They stop in some crapola trailer park and take a rental from the trashy Tyrell, in a perfectly grungy performance. Some mini mart dudes been killed, and during the next day and night we get POV (point of view) shots of the killer as he offs residents of the small area. We get some decent mystery of who it might be, though some may solve it quicker than others. The cast is also suprisingly good for a low grade pic, with Drew, Frewer, Tilly, and Masur. Rapp is thrown in as a nerdy crush, with Jones the bad boy who lusts for Drew. And some great middle of nowhere atmosphere, as the desolation is nicely photographed. Dust swirls and tons of empty surrounding land are a good touch. But mostly on display here is Drew, and those of the male persuasion shouldnt be disappointed.

Okay, most of the movies during Drew Barrymore's "bad girl" phase were pretty bad but this is a good movie. And for all you theater fans, you will recognize Anthony Rapp (as always) the nerd, Pinky. Rent this one and ignore Drew's voice overs and her bad lines like "Did you ever do it?"

Admittedly, this film did not deserve a place in the Oscars, but for an average thriller it is watchable.

Pic centres on a young girl just entering adolescence and interested in what every teenage girl is interested in - boys! It is her naivety and inexperience which lands her in trouble. Barrymore is generally good as the confused and lonely angst-ridden teenager, and is sometimes quite realistic in her scenes with Matt Frewer. As a teenager when I saw this a few years ago, I certainly could relate to her and her ineptitude with boys, but now it's just another coming-of-age film with a weak murder plot. Jones was convincing as the ice-cold lust figure for Barrymore, but we never saw enough of him and his character was too rigid. Girls will like him - especially in a wet T-Shirt (Barrymore isn't the only one!)

Nevertheless, some good acting and not a bad film overall, particularly from the women like Susan Tyrrell and Karen Austin, who seem to hold it together better than the men!