湘江北去

　　可曾記得十五歲的年輕滋味嗎在這部輕鬆迷人的喜劇片中請隨著三名俄亥俄州的青少年一同再次體驗由青澀朦懂跌跌撞撞邁向成熟穩重的酸甜苦辣聰慧可人的娜塔莉珍妮佛康納利飾身為人母血鑽石為了「精神契合的伴侶」而放棄自己的童真見一個愛一個的小花痴寶莉瑪蒂寇曼飾求婚腦震盪我的手槍會轉彎幻想著自己成為美國總統而個性叛逆的傑夫拜隆覃姆斯飾則因與繼父不合忙著離家出走他們正如你我一般在成長中經歷了各種喜悅與痛苦從而認識了生命學習到愛的意義

　　Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley#39;s early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career
　　Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality though using sex for several years; obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich eg, her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude but unseen work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc
　　As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone quot;I#39;m a mechanicquot;, yet the symbolism is rich he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy is, in fact a virgin, and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played
　　The scene between Josh and Jane a wonderful, young Edie Falco quot;You need a woman not a girlquot; is hilarious real But Hartley can#39;t leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue overandover becomes frustratingly quot;artyquot; and annoying until again it becomes hilarious What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film like kids in a perpetual quot;am notquot;/quot;are tooquot; argument
　　Hartley#39;s weaves all of a small neighborhood#39;s idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the quot;unbelievable truthquot; of the title is, yet no two people can agree including our hero on what exactly that truth is A wonderful little movie with some big ideas