Come Early Morning (2006)

Tender

Joey Lauren Adams who acted on the "Judging Amy" TV series directs her first feature with "Come Early Morning." Ashley Judd who I enjoyed in the Cole Porter bio pic De-Lovely & "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" does a good job as Lucy Fowler who has a lot of alcohol-soaked one night stands but shies from commitment. Her performance is rich and varied. I also liked the male lead Jeffrey Donovan who won Best Supporting Actor for "Sam & Joe" in 2003 from the Meth Fest that celebrates the actors' "method" for realistic acting. He's worked in TV series like "Burn Notice" with Sharon Gless, "Crossing Jordan" & "The Pretender." As Cal Percell, he's a sincere guy who tries to establish a loving relationship with Lucy. Some of their love scenes are very tender. Lucy's roommate Kim is played by Laura Prepon from "That 70s Show" & "October Road" TV series. Her values are quite different as she's looking for substance over flash. Scott Wilson does a nice job as Lucy's taciturn dad Lowell that she accompanies to a holy roller church. Diane Ladd with 3 Oscar nominations including "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" plays her grandmother Nana who is in an abusive relationship. The film was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. I think audiences want lovers to get together in the end. Not having that happen makes the film seem like it's about lost opportunities and poor timing. While it gives the film depth, it's not quite the happy ending we hope for in a romantic picture. The performances here are deep and worth viewing. Adams does a nice job of keeping the pacing brisk and making each supporting character seem to be multi-dimensional. Enjoy! December 17, 2007

Could have been better, could have gone deeper but Judd is still fantastic...

I had very high hopes for this movie. It stars one of my favorite actresses, Ashley Judd, and it promised to be a return to form for her, her best performance to date, something to finally get her noticed by the academy maybe. It's a shame that Judd is really the only redeeming factor in this film. `Come Early Morning' suffers from being just too plain, nothing special indeed. There really is no life to this movie other than Judd's impressive performance. I think my wife summed it up best when she said "she's a whore who had a bad life, end of story" and that is really the case here. In fact we never really even get a real glimpse into what made her life so incredibly bad other than she had a philandering father who she never really had a relationship with and the family around her seems to fight an awful lot.

The film, written and directed by actress Joey Lauren Adams (who is another one of those talented actresses who never seems to get a break in the right movie), revolves around Lucy Fowler. She is afraid of rejection more than anything else and so she spends her nights with one stranger after another, drowning her sorrow and or pain in booze. This is until she meets Cal Percell, a newbie to her town and a gentleman of sorts. He wants to have a real relationship with Lucy and she seems to want the same with him, but her innate tendencies start to tear them apart before they really have a chance to begin. She struggles to right things with her father, accompanying him to his new `holy roller' church and she continues to visit and help out her family the best way she can. She's guided somewhat by her roommate Kim, a young girl who has very different views on love, life and dating.

The film fails to really go anywhere. Its premise is one of promise but it never capitalizes on it. I saw this playing on Lifetime the other night and I chuckled a little bit because that's what this movie feels like, a Lifetime movie. The execution is a bit amateurish. Sure, Lucy may be a character close to Lauren Adams heart but you'd think that she would have really wanted to flesh her out more then. By the end of the film the audience is left not really caring what happens to Lucy because the film doesn't really give us a reason to.

But there is Ashley Judd, and the hype is not overdone. She really turns out a stand up knock down drag out performance here, really embracing all that she's given despite the lack of real material. She's completely believable and convincing in her execution. I really want to see her embraced for her talent because she has so much of it. Laura Prepon is wasted here as Kim, she really doesn't have much to work with and is kind of left to fall flat on her face. Jeffrey Donovan is decent here but is overshadowed by Judd's magnificence. In fact, the only actor that holds him own against Judd is Scott Wilson who plays her father. The final confrontation between the two is his moment to really shine without even saying a word. While I feel that the scene should have gone a little deeper his solemn silent performance was touching to say the least.

In the end I really can't say much more about the film. It's not one I would ever recommend to anyone wanting to witness a good film, but if you're a fan of Judd and want to see her really sink her teeth into a performance then watch this for that reason and that reason only. October 8, 2007

What was she thinking?

I recently watched this movie for one reason.. Jeffrey Donovan. I'm a recent fan because of Burn Notice on USA Network. He was very good in this movie, very real and touching. Although Ashly Judd is a beautiful and extremely talented actress, this movie was a complete waste of time. There were many lost opportunities for the story to take a better turn, such as the dog. Why not then, after the dog died, get another dog and show that she has some feelings for something afterall. The end is just horrible and I'm left with... is that all there is? Did she really change? Is she going to go back to her old ways? Will she be able to keep the company afloat? Did she make amends with her father? What about her grandparent?

Too may questions left unanswered.
September 30, 2007

Great acting by Ashley Judd

It was Ashley Judd's acting that drew me into this flick. I didn't even know she had it in her to come across so real. I like how this movie doesn't have a happy, fairytale ending. It has a realistic ending. It ends with a beginning, really. Watch it, you'll see. It's gritty and life-like, not cutesy-poo like the dvd case photo would have you believe. June 5, 2007

Love Ashley Judd, just not this movie

I think Ashley Judd is an incredibly talented actress and usually will watch movies just because she is in them. But this was a really bad movie as far as story lines goes. I came away from this movie feeling very little, mostly that I wasted 2 hours watching. No inspiration, no thoughtful moments not even a just plan good entertainment. I hate to say it, but skip this movie. June 3, 2007

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