Hick Review

I saw Hick with Dad and Justin on May 14, 2012. I was very impressed with this movie. It is adapted from a book written by Andrea Portes and the casting and following along with the story was excellent. The movie, much like the book, follows the life of 13 year old Luli McMullen, whose had some bad hands dealt to her in her young life thus far. Her mother and father are always drinking, arguing, or walking out on her. She is basically left to fend for herself. She is given a gift of a .45 for her birthday. She decides to leave Palmyra, Nebraska and head to Las Vegas for a new life. The character of Luli was portrayed by one of my new favorite actresses in Chloe Grace Moretz. I have been fascinated with her since she portrayed Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass. She was excellent in this movie and portrayed exactly what the words on the pages of the book say. This movie was mostly designed to promote her and it did just that. It was definitely a performance worthy of praise. The subject material is controversial, but at 13 years old when this movie was shot she captured each emotion that it called for. I definitely look forward to more by this incredible young talent. As Luli embarks on her journey, she comes across Eddie Keezer, played pretty well by Eddie Redmayne. He has the look of a cowboy with the stetson and boots, however, the man has a limp. A conversation between the two establishes that Luli has a problem with trust based on what has happened to her thus far. There is also a part of her exploring her blossoming sexuality, and it seems she is also trying to elicit reactions by Eddie. After she insults his limp, he tells her to get out of the car. She now contemplates what she must do to survive. Enter Glenda. Now, Chloe Grace Moretz was definitely the star and best part of the movie, but Blake Lively was excellent in her role. She became the character of Glenda throughout the course of the movie and made it believable. I am a fan of Lively from her work on Gossip Girl as Serena Van Der Woodsen and this role showed how good she could be. She portrayed emotions very well as a professional grifter, but one that also hides some dark secrets. The thing is this movie has alot to do with dark secrets. Glenda takes Luli under her wing, encouraging her to participate in illegal activities such as drug use, assisting in robbing a convenient store, etc. However, you sense that Glenda is good deep down. We find out that Glenda and Eddie have a dark past as he returns in the picture. The chemistry between Moretz and Redmayne was very good as Redmayne turned up the craziness for Eddie as he is supposed to in the book. He is basically obsessed with Luli and wants her for himself. Luli is taken advantage of and Moretz captures the emotion very well, as she has tears rolling down her face wondering if she will survive, make it to Vegas, or see 14. The cottage scene featuring Luli, Glenda, and Eddie was an phenomenal scene and one that elicited some good acting on all three parts. The .45 makes its appearance here and there is alot of emotion surrounding it. Luli's appearance had been changed by Eddie and this new appearance actually has another meaning as she is able to effectively shake her old life and start a new one. Eddie accidentally shoots Glenda as she is wasted on Jack Daniels and he feels deep regret for what he did. However, its hard to feel sorry for Eddie as he his actions towards Luli are reprehensible. Luli then lifts the .45 and takes Eddie's life, but in retrospect it is pretty interesting as he took her innocence. She didn't want to pull that trigger as evidenced by the emotion in her eyes, but she knew it had to happen in order to escape. A good cameo by Alec Baldwin, in which he portrays the character of Beau from the book, comes to rescue Luli from the chaos that occurred in the cottage. He is erasing the fact that Luli had anything to do with Eddie's murder, and making it as if it was a lover's quarrel between Glenda and Eddie-which is actually partially true. The first shot fired at Glenda revolved around an argument in which Glenda passionately was defending Luli, while Eddie refused to let either go. Beau then provides Luli with some information that would help her to survive in LA. She would be able to live a normal life with his niece. The last shot we see is her running to the bus for LA as she is making the trek to normalcy and freedom. Every step Luli takes and evey obstacle she has encountered makes her stronger as Luli perseveres. That is why I like her character so much. All the terrible things she experiences don't force her to tap out and say I quit. She is determined to rise above and she does that with a little guidance from Beau. I personally give this movie a 5/5. I loved the story of a girl trying to overcome the horrible conditions of her life and better herself. Chloe Grace Moretz is amazing and an actress I root for to continue to rise in the entertainment world.