Come Early Morning

Okay, you've got to love a movie in which the opening scene involves Ashley Judd leaving her one night stand without a second glance. In her t-shirt and jeans - one pant leg hiked up above her scuffed up cowboy boots- Ashley's character Lucy struts out of the motel room with only a few cold words for the stranger she woke up with, "I think we both got what we wanted."

And this Lucy character sure seems to know exactly what she wants... at first, that is. She drives a honking green truck, has no problem hanging stripping down to her little cotton panties on several occasions, drinks one beer after another, straight out of the bottle, and don't even think about saying anything nasty about her Pa! Oh no- Lucy decks a girl in the face for making some snide comment about her father. "Bitch!" says Lucy without even flinching. With a bleeding scar on her own face, and her hair all dishevelled, Lucy looks at her reflection in the mirror and laughs. She heads off to her truck, and and within minutes, she still manages to catch the attention of a cute country boy named Cal. "Look me up," she says when he asks if he can get her number.

And much of this happens within the first ten or fifteen minutes of the movie!

But through her interactions with Cal, Lucy's insecurities begin to unravel. It soon becomes apparent that her hard, "I-can-take-care-of-myself" attitude, is in fact a way for Lucy to protect herself from her fears, the biggest one having to do with relationships. Without an example of a good relationship in her family, Lucy is used to running away from men, before she gets to know them, scared that she will end up like the other couples around her- betrayed or simply miserable.

But Cal treats her differently, and though Lucy struggles to accept his affection, she begins learning more about herself once he enters her life.

Despite the small town setting- pool tables, juke boxes, tractors, farming fields and southern accents- the lesson Lucy needs to learn is a big and universal one: you have to love and respect yourself first before you can truly love another.

At times, I was distracted by the poor acting by some of the supporting characters- particularly the old folks around Lucy- some of the dialogue just seemed too contrived or forced, and took me out of the story. But Judd and her co-star Jeffry Donovan (who plays Cal) do a great job in portraying their down to earth characters. I felt Judd's happiness when she smiled, and I empathized with her pain when she dropped her head down on her steering wheel and cried. And Donovan had some witty lines that he expressed effortlessly.

I also liked the character Kim, played by Laura Prepon (who you may know better as Donna, from That 70's Show). Her role as the roommate who didn't quite see relationships as Lucy did, helped serve as a foil to Lucy's character.

The simple life setting of the movie captured me- country music enlivening some of the long truck rides or bar scenes (and I'm not usually a big fan of country music), the mention of sweet cornbread, and families going to quaint little churches on Sunday morning. It took me to a quieter place for over an hour, a place I think some of us need sometimes. But it also reminded me that people are people wherever you go. At the heart of it, we all still have the same hurdles to get over, we just go through them in different ways.

Perhaps this is not a movie that is a must see for everyone. But, if you're ever in one of those moods where staying at home with a warm cup of tea or hot chocolate, and just getting cosy sounds appealing, this would be a good movie pick. I particularly recommend it to you women out there who appreciate creative reminders about how we need to be treated- by others, but more importantly, by our selves.