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Personal Velocity 2002 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Rebecca Miller
R, 85 min. (brief violence, some strong sexuality, language) |
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Starring: Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk, David Warshofsky, Leo Fitzpatrick, Tim Guinee, Wallace Shawn, Lou Taylor Pucci
Producer: Alexis Alexanian
Screenplay: Rebecca Miller
Cinematography: Ellen Kuras
Distributor: United Artists
Released: 11/22/02 (Limited) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Personal Velocity presents us with three stories of women who come face-to-face with their own "personal velocity," or
in other words their individual self-realization of who they are and where they're headed. The film, which won the Grand
Jury Prize at Sundance this year, juxtaposes its stories with its central premise intact - that people face their moments
of truth in life with either an acceptance of inevitability or the desire to fight against it. In this case, all three women prefer
the former approach, allowing themselves to accept who they are and move on. Director Rebecca Miller (daughter of the
playwright Arthur) keeps her film compact and efficient with a scant 30 minutes for each short story, which allows each
section to seem more powerful than it is. Most films could take one of these stories and stretch it to feature length, which is
exactly why Personal Velocity is both intensely acute and palpable in its intended message.
In the first story we meet Delia (Kyra Sedgwick), a mother who is the victim of her husband's physical abuse, decides
to take her children and start a new life on the road. She struggles to find work and reminisces about the husband she's
left behind. In the second story we visit Greta (Parker Posey), a cookbook editor, that is comfortably married to a
conventional man, but she's restless nonetheless. When her career suddenly takes off with the opportunity of a lifetime, her
past weaknesses come back to haunt her and she realizes that her climb up the social ladder will mean dumping her husband
in the near future. In the final story a young woman, Paula (Fairuza Balk), flees an accident and picks up a hitchiker (an abused boy) on
the way to see her mother. The boy becomes a tonic for her own fears of becoming a mother since she's pregnant. All three
stories connect in the sense that they portray women who must make some tough, life-altering decisions.
What transcends Personal Velocity above most other character studies is in the way Miller clearly defines her
characters through emotions and thought processes. We can follow each woman's progression from status quo to
eventual life-changing decision with understanding because Miller puts us in their shoes, giving us reason to
care. Another reason the film succeeds is because of its reality-based conclusions - each story doesn't end on a final
note or any cathartic salve, instead presenting the characters as they are and then leaving them when they've made the
first steps toward a new life. In this way Miller doesn't necessarily judge or make any statements about their lives -
that's left for us to decide.
From a cinematic standpoint, Greta's story is the most focused and fully-fleshed out segment; but my favorite section
is the last act. Paula, played by the strikingly blue-eyed Balk, communicates a desperation and vulnerability that
becomes infectious to the audience. She's pregnant and considering abortion because she doesn't believe she can
properly care for a child. When her motherly instincts appear out of nowhere to help an abused hitchiker, she begins
to recognize her own forgotten merits and smiles in the film's final scene, as if indicating her newfound confidence to
go it alone if necessary.
Although the film was shot on digital video, it never becomes a distraction because we're locked into these characters'
lives and actions. This is possible because of the standout performances of the cast, led by Posey's finely-tuned
effort as the self-assured Greta. Consider her final scene with her husband as she suddenly grabs his shoulder,
as if indicating to herself that she accepts the fact that she will be leaving him soon. There's a sense of sorrow and
capitulation on her face that summarizes her character completely. Sedgwick gives the most dramatic performance
of the trio, using her talent to develop sympathy for her abused character. And Balk uses her enchanting gaze to
captivate the audience.
Personal Velocity is a remarkably impressive feature for an independent film on a tight budget, combining strong acting
and efficient directing to draw the viewer into an intriguing world of "personal velocities." Miller argues that everyone's
self-awareness is different, it's just a matter of right timing and pushing the right buttons.
© 2002 Jonathan Cornwell
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 |
 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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