If you ever happen upon Baxter, California (Pop. 87, and home to
the world's largest ice cream cone) you might wanna just keep on
truckin' clear on through to the next town; there's NOTHING
happening here.
Populated with a very small cast of marginally eccentric
characters, mostly listless teens, Desert Blue tells the story of a
group of bored (and boring) townsfolk inhabiting what remains of
an old miners settlement. One day a Cultural Studies professor
(John Heard) and his snotty young actress daughter (Kate
Hudson) stop by to get a look at the world's largest ice cream cone
monument! Suddenly, a tanker truck carrying the secret ingredient
used to make local soda-magnate Empire Cola's special brew
overturns and spews out toxic chemicals, which of course means
the FBI is called in to quarantine the town! Now all the teens have
left to do is sit around drinking and making out! Which means of
course that Hudson's character, Skye, will fall for the sensitive (ie.,
dumb) local boy, Blue, who is so desperately trying to fulfill his
dead father's dream of opening a water-park in the middle of the
desert (?), and in turn she become a much more sensitive woman
in the process! Awwww. Oh, and Christina Ricci likes to blow stuff
up...........real good!
The film reeks of having little to say, or show, but nonetheless s-t- r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out what it does provide as long as it can. None of
the characters is expanded on enough to be truly engaging or
anything beyond mere caricature. Not that the acting is bad (with
the exception of Ricci, who is just horrible), but Hudson comes off
as the closest to being realistic, with the others merely being
ample. The film itself doesn't look too bad visually, although it
becomes very noticeable that most action takes place outside of
the town, or inside locations, so that no people outside of the cast
appear anywhere. The best part of the film is the eclectic
soundtrack, featuring some nice old Country & Western tracks
spliced in amongst the newer lo-fi stuff. Over-all, I've written far
more than this film deserves words wasted on it.
5/10. Yawn. Sunday afternoon fodder at best or a cure for
insomnia at least.
the world's largest ice cream cone) you might wanna just keep on
truckin' clear on through to the next town; there's NOTHING
happening here.
Populated with a very small cast of marginally eccentric
characters, mostly listless teens, Desert Blue tells the story of a
group of bored (and boring) townsfolk inhabiting what remains of
an old miners settlement. One day a Cultural Studies professor
(John Heard) and his snotty young actress daughter (Kate
Hudson) stop by to get a look at the world's largest ice cream cone
monument! Suddenly, a tanker truck carrying the secret ingredient
used to make local soda-magnate Empire Cola's special brew
overturns and spews out toxic chemicals, which of course means
the FBI is called in to quarantine the town! Now all the teens have
left to do is sit around drinking and making out! Which means of
course that Hudson's character, Skye, will fall for the sensitive (ie.,
dumb) local boy, Blue, who is so desperately trying to fulfill his
dead father's dream of opening a water-park in the middle of the
desert (?), and in turn she become a much more sensitive woman
in the process! Awwww. Oh, and Christina Ricci likes to blow stuff
up...........real good!
The film reeks of having little to say, or show, but nonetheless s-t- r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out what it does provide as long as it can. None of
the characters is expanded on enough to be truly engaging or
anything beyond mere caricature. Not that the acting is bad (with
the exception of Ricci, who is just horrible), but Hudson comes off
as the closest to being realistic, with the others merely being
ample. The film itself doesn't look too bad visually, although it
becomes very noticeable that most action takes place outside of
the town, or inside locations, so that no people outside of the cast
appear anywhere. The best part of the film is the eclectic
soundtrack, featuring some nice old Country & Western tracks
spliced in amongst the newer lo-fi stuff. Over-all, I've written far
more than this film deserves words wasted on it.
5/10. Yawn. Sunday afternoon fodder at best or a cure for
insomnia at least.