"Leaving Normal"(1992)


Directed by Edward Zwick
Written by Ed Solomon
Director of Photography: Ralf Bode, A.S.C.
Executive Producer: Sydney Pollack

CAST
Meg Tilly .... Marianne Johnson
Christine Lahti .... Darly
Patrika Darbo .... "66"
Lenny Von Dohlen .... Harrison
Maury Chaykin .... Leon
Brett Cullen .... Kurt
James Gammon .... Walt


Naive Marianne (Meg Tilly), who had wandered about seeking her own happy home for long time but always failed, just walked out on another broken marriage. Tough Cocktail waitress Darly (Christine Lahti), who had experienced very hard time but hide it under her cynicism, just quit her job and is now on the way to her inherited property in Alaska to start a new life. Marianne joined Darly's journey to Alaska, and on the way they experience new friendship, romance, difficult choices, and at last find their "home" in the new world.

I have read several reviews on the film so far and found some critics compared the film with "Thelma & Louise" by Ridley Scott, maybe because both of films described a friendship between two mismatched women (one is naive, another is experienced) on the journey to find their final goal in life. Unfortunately, this "Leaving Normal" cannot get much praise form those reviewers than "Thelma & Louise" did. As some of them mentioned, the story is kind of very common and you cannot see anything new in it, but I enjoyed a very beautiful sight in Canada and bizarre characters in the film.

Lenny played Harrison, a guy on the truck which the two women hitchhiked and fell in love with Marianne. Harrison is a so adorable character - he loves reading books (when he met Marianne for the first time he was shedding tears by reading "The Grapes of Wrath" on his seat), writes poems, and he even dedicates one of his poems to Marianne (though it is a "so bad" poem, as Marianne said). Though some people might not like the character (like one of my friends, who said Harrison was too "weepy"), I like him very much, so I am sorry that he did not appear in the film much longer.
In the near end of the film, Harrison came to see Marianne in Alaska, who just decided to start her new life there, to propose her to travel with him on his truck. Marriane did not agree with him,and chose to stay in Alaska....WHY NOT? I know her decision means one of the themes of this film, but if I were Marianne, I would go with him!!

In Japan, the film is released as video only with a very strange title,"Forever Road." (in Japanese, "Foeba Ro-odo")


her hand in his hand: Marianne and Harrison.
Click here to see lots of pics from this film!
 

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