Gas Food Lodging (1991)
Director: Allison Anders
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Nora (Adams) waits tables and scrapes by, single-handedly raising two teenage daughters in a clapped-out trailer. Romance seems as scarce as rain in her New Mexico backwater: Nora and elder daughter Trudi (Skye) know what it means to be left high and dry, and even young Shade (Balk) suffers rejection at the hands of dreamy Darius (Leitch). But hopes of love die hard, and there's escapism to be found at the local Spanish fleapit. Shade decides to go father-hunting, but an attempt at match-making and the hunt for her long-absent dad (Brolin) yield decidedly mixed results. Far from gloomy fare, this debut from an American independent offers humour, wry observation and sympathetic characterisation. Without patronising her characters, writer-director Anders captures the frustrations of both generations, and the concluding optimistic note isn't forced. Delightfully oddball and strangely sane.Author: CM
Cast & crew
Director: Allison Anders
Producer: Bill Ewart, Dan Hassid, Seth Willenson
Cast: Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk, James Brolin, Robert Knepper, David Landsbury, Jacob Vargas, Donovan Leitch full cast
Duration: 101 mins
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