Review - Kwik Stop

I'm going to stop saying things like, "Hollywood should start making movies like this." Thanks to Netflix, and thanks to living in NYC, I get more than my fair share of independent, intelligent cinema. Hollywood can continue to make movies for 12-year olds and Republicans, which I'll still enjoy on occasion, and I can see movies like Kwik Stop when I want to switch the brain on.

This is just a nice, small movie. It's got its fair share of the usual annoying quirks of really low-budget films - moments of questionable acting ability, for one - but it's a story that goes logically from one point to the next with a deep understanding for its characters informing the plot, so that it never dives into cliche or goes the route you quite expect it to.

It's a story about a road trip that never really makes it anywhere.

But I don't want to ruin it, because half the joy to be derived from the film is the unexpected yet completely believable turns the movie takes. It begins as one thing, and you're pretty sure you know exactly what it's gonna turn in to, and then it becomes something else entirely, and at the same time, in the end, the structure comes full circle and you realize it makes complete sense.

It's a really swell little movie. I have Roger Ebert, once again, to thank for drawing my attention to it. He's gushed about it on several occassions, and... good call, Rog. See Kwik Stop if you get a chance, it's a sweet, funny, moving film.