Main Cast: Judith Ivey, Bill Raymond, Emily Grace, Jane Lincoln Taylor, Justin Parkinson
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Alice (Emily Grace, in her first feature film role) has run away from her small town, New Hampshire home and hit the road, completely unprepared for the future. She has a wad of ill-gotten cash and a semblance of a plan. She's going to Florida, where she'll crash with a friend who goes to college there. Dolphins have always fascinated her, and eventually she hopes she'll somehow find a way to enroll herself in school and study marine biology. After an unpleasant encounter with a couple of lowlifes on the highway, she pulls into a rest stop. As she's getting ready to hit the road again, Sandra (Judith Ivey) approaches her, warning Alice that she and her husband, Bill (Bill Raymond) saw some guy messing with her car. Sure enough, one of Alice's tires has been punctured. Worried that someone may be planning to ambush Alice out on the roadside, Bill (who, Alice notices, carries a gun) and Sandra ask Alice to follow them in case her car breaks down before she can get it fixed. Sure enough, the old wreck of a car does break down. Sandra and Bill offer to take the wary Alice to a bus station. She hops into their RV, and soon finds herself hitting it off with the loquacious Sandra and her quiet husband. When they offer to save her a few bucks by driving her all the way to Florida, she hesitantly accepts. Soon, they're treating her to meals, and buying her new outfits. But she soon learns the unsavory truth about how Sandra and Bill pay for their freewheeling lifestyle. What Alice Found, written and directed by A. Dean Bell, was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
A. Dean Bell's What Alice Found is a solid, if unspectacular, drama buoyed by two sensitive and nuanced lead performances. The film puts its troubled protagonist through the moral wringer as the easily manipulated and unfocused teen (well played by Emily Grace) finds herself in over her head when she's drawn into the sleazy world of roadside prostitution. Alice isn't especially bright or model-pretty, but Grace brings an awkward charm to the role (enhanced by an endearingly grating New Hampshire accent) and manages to draw us in, and make us root for Alice to make the right choices. Judith Ivey, as Alice's mentor/corrupter, Sandra, gives a strong, thoughtful performance in a role that could easily have turned into a shrill caricature in less capable hands. Bill Raymond is pretty much a cipher as Bill, Sandra's husband, who rounds out the trio. Bill is clearly a background figure, but he does play a pivotal part in the plot, so it's unfortunate that the character is underwritten. The setting is cramped (much of the film takes place in Bill and Sandra's RV), the DV camerawork (by Richard Connors, who also shot Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.) is effective, but the low-budget efficiency and teen-in-peril story line of What Alice Found give it the feel of an After School Special gone wrong (complete with full frontal nudity!). The script, with its somewhat clunky flashback inserts, isn't really much better than that, with the exception of a couple of strong scenes. The performances are what transcend the fairly rudimentary storytelling and make the film worthwhile. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Michael C. Maronna - Alice's boyfriend; Katheryn Winnick - Julie; David Rose - Rough Trucker; John Knox - Trooper; Tim Hayes - Danny; Lucas Papaelias - Alex; Clint Jordan - Lot Trucker
Credit
Bryce "Paul Mama" Williams - Art Director, Mie Handy - Associate Producer, Kristine Bulakowski - Casting, Michelle Teague - Costume Designer, A. Dean Bell - Director, Chris Houghton - Editor, Don Wells - Executive Producer, J. C. Chmiel - Executive Producer, Matthew Campbell - Line Producer, Richard Connors - Cinematographer, Richard Connors - Producer, Jeff Pullman - Sound/Sound Designer, Irin Straus - Sound/Sound Designer, A. Dean Bell - Screenwriter, Wyche Stublefield - Additional Cinematography, Edwin Martinez - Additional Cinematography
