When I see a movie and I see within it a splicing of two or more movies I never know what to expect, even if it is two or more movies I like. "Digging to China" was a combination of good movies and it was also par excellence itself.
"Digging to China" centered around Harriet Frankovitz (Evan Rachel Wood), a 10-year-old girl with a wild imagination, a fascination with the National Enquirer, and desperate to run away from home. It wasn't that her home life was all that bad, she was simply detached from her alcoholic and lethargic mother (Cathy Moriarty) and her promiscuous sister Gwen (Mary Stuart Masterson).
Harriet was delivered a good and needed friend in Ricky Schroth (Kevin Bacon) when his mother's car broke down. Harriet struck a deep yet socially weird friendship with Ricky, a mentally handicapped adult male who operated on the level of a 10-year-old.
First, I want to give props to Timothy Hutton on his first and only directorial job for a feature length movie. You may know him very well as an actor in movies such as: "Taps," "The Falcon and the Snowman," "Q & A," "The Dark Half," and others. I wouldn't say he was a mega-star, but he was well recognized.
Secondly, I love this movie. It is so simple, pure, and touching. Both Wood and Bacon were phenomenal. Their friendship just melts the heart though you know it is not entirely appropriate nor is it sustainable. All you want for them is to enjoy each other's company and comfort each other for the short amount of time they will be together. It was so pure and innocent you couldn't help but be moved.
