This debut film from writer-director Karen Moncrieff is brilliant. Like the poetry of its lead character, the script is pared to its essentials. Even the score by Adam Gorgoni and Stuart Spencer-Nash is sparse, a melodic whisper with rock underpinnings. The family has been deserted by the father who drove off, we are told, in a blue car. Meg, played by Agnes Bruckner, walks the edge of adulthood long before she should. She cares for her troubled sister, Lily, and for her mother, Diane, an over-burdened woman trying to do the right thing without any help. Regan Arnold and Margaret Colin underplay the roles respectively. Arnold's Lily is a haunting presence throughout; she sticks with you long after the film is over. Colin gives a great performance as a woman coping with one setback after the other. She looks to Meg for support as she makes plans for a new job, vents at her when things go wrong, and attempts to parent the girl when crisis develops. Yet as much as they may long for it, the mother-daughter relationship has dissolved long ago.
Ultimately, this is Meg's story and we see the film unfold through her point of view. She copes by writing poetry. Her teacher, Mr. Auster, played by David Strathairn, challenges her to learn more about herself, to put more of herself in her work. Meg soon begins to look to Auster for emotional support. In winning his approval, she wins a place for herself -- but is it the place she wants to be? There are no easy answers.
Coming of age films usually work better for male characters with films like "Stand By Me." But female characters have improved with recent entries like "Ghost World," "My First Mister" and, now, "Blue Car." Moncrieff doesn't pull back from uncomfortable material, yet she doesn't sensationalize it. Meg's blue car may be an icon of despair, but it is also a symbol of hope. This storyteller knows how to drive.
Video and audio are just fine. Extras include deleted scenes. They all work and add to the story, but it gives you an idea of how Moncrieff edited her work to its essentials. Listen to Moncrieff's feature length commentary for an engaging retrospective on how the film was made.
