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An independent flick is usually some wraparound of fantastic art and diligent storytelling. Even if the film were poor (last week's The Chambermaid on the Titanic) there is generally some element of original plot and nonpareil perspective - read: something that avoids those aggrivating blockbuster plot copy-offs of other copy-offs of other cliches of other marketing dizzies. But Digging to China seems so profuse on using its already-been-used honed script to market itself as an arthouse worthiness, that it's a political disaster. What does that mean for the movie? It's a commercial stunt gone ary; a way for an unoriginal director with a cast full of unoriginal acting in an unoriginal attempt at storytelling to sway critics.
Digging to China tries using all the tricks in the book of flicks to hatchet itself a winner - insanity, illness, femininity. OK, we've seen these subject matters in laureate outcomes before (Lorenzo's Oil, My Left Foot, The Piano, Julia) but at least the characters were conceivably erratic, unlike the contrived and 30-second-makeup of those in China. Harriet (who also narrates), played by Evan Rachel Wood, wants out of her alcoholic mother and slutty sister's house (not that there's ever been an alcoholic mother in a film before). But, drum roll please, Harriet finds comfort in Ricky (Kevin Bacon) who has cerebral paulsy. The two form a bond (again, not that this has ever been done before) and it becomes a forbidden friendship. The plot, for a while at least, heads in its own direction until it becomes warped in misconceived, audience-prone, ridiculous sentiment. The real core, the real drama, the real pack would have been to leave the film heading north, but director Hutton decides to follow all the rules of Hollywood, which only leaves us amidst a very bad, very crude film that ridicules the art of independence.
Hopefully Hollywood learns that it still has gray areas to suit and done - my admonition is that we should have our palms read before entering the theater to couch ourselves for two hours on a film that isn't even worth a bathroom break. Towards the end you feel that maybe you've wasted a portion of your life, because all Digging to China is, is a waste of time
The
film, much like its title, never reaches its destination except perhaps
the epitome of cliche handouts. Starring Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Bacon,
Cathy Moriarty. Dir: Timothy Hutton