Melissa and Richie have a pretty humble existence. They live in a motel room. He’s disabled, she works at a gas station where she’s stalked by her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend. It’s a charmless kind of life, dictated by poverty. It’s kind of dismal, but they have each other, and when they learn there’s a baby on the way, suddenly everything seems possible.
Unexpected pregnancy on a minimum wage salary is not my idea of “good luck” but 
when Melissa loses her job and she and Richie get evicted from their home, the good days are clearly behind them. The cycle of poverty’s got a pretty nasty pull on them, and in many ways this feels like a companion piece to The Florida Project, though this one’s already five years old.
The Florida Project’s a little more palatable to watch. Told from the perspective of children, the poverty feels less oppressive, or at least it’s more optimistic. In this one, however, Melissa (Naomi Watts) and Richie (Matt Dillon) are middle-aged. They’ve made their choices. There doesn’t seem to be much room for second chances.
Naomi Watts is incredible in almost everything she’s in. The problem here is not the acting, but that the acting can’t possibly do much with a sometimes remarkably stilted script. Despite some empathetic performances, the script has zero uplift. It’s tough to watch, though it is a tribute to an experience authentic to too many Americans. Watts and Dillon may be mis-cast. I hate how work dries up for aging actresses, but the fact is, she’ll be 50 this year, so she’s hardly in fertile young American territory anymore. There are loads more people who’d be far more appropriate.
Still, nothing’s really going to make this movie great. It has good intentions but can’t quite connect emotionally. It’s tedious, gray, and doesn’t care to resolve any of the adversity encountered: tragic in many sense of the word.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I like both these actors…too bad the script could not give the characters a glimmer of hope for a better life…it does sound depressing. Good review Jay, as always 😊
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Oh dear, no redemption.
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Pass the whiskey.
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This one definitely doesn’t sound like it would qualify as “the feel-good film of the year.”
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I don’t do well with depressed movies. You know how movies have a mood? The dismal and gray ones are ones I need to skip.
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I don’t mind dismal if it means something but this one seemed a little too determined to stay in its foul mood.
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The story started out on the grim side and seems to have ended up on the grim side. Too bad since these are decent actors.
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I’m not always Naomi’s biggest fan – she does one good turn and then a few to many bad ones in a row. I am a Dillon fan tho and I can truly say, though it’s been a few eyars since I watched this one, I can honestly say I didn’t like either of them that much. And the movie was kinda messy in the story it was trying to convey. it was just a grim watch.
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I’m not too drawn to this one, but Matt Dillon’s in it and I don’t think he’s in enough, so it makes it (almost) great by default. I’ll have a look on Netflix or the likes and perhaps watch it when I think there’s way too much sunshine in the world (not likely, I know).
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It’s tough when a movie doesn’t meet expectations… I saw Black Panther and it was awesome!
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