Synopsis

For this brief intro I’m at a loss for words, seeing as throughout the whole movie I was waiting for a plot to start. But from what I can gather, here was the general idea: Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz), a 13 year old girl who comes from a broken home of drunkard parents in Nebraska, decides to run away to Las Vegas. But Luli is no ordinary young teen, proving herself to be wise beyond her years through her dirty mouth and revealing clothing. Although she intends to hitchhike her way west, she gets somewhat emotionally involved with some of the people who pick her up.

The Good:

Blake Lively Steals the Show

Really, the film’s only saving grace was a stellar performance by Blake Lively, who plays the eccentricdrifter Glenda.  She picks up young Luli and quickly gets acquainted, giving Luli her first hit of coke in addition to some life lessons. The often sweet and soft spoken Lively completely transforms into a Midwestern, no-nonsense, bad-ass chick. Sporting a twang and a feisty attitude, Lively is about the only thing in the movie that keeps it above zero stars. Moretz was not bad by any means, in fact she was quite convincing as a young primadonna, but alongside Lively she was overshadowed. Lively sort of reminds me of cooler and more like-able, Warden Walker (played by Sigourney Weaver) in the 2003 film, Holes. Although her morals might not be the highest her openness, vulnerability, and adorable sundresses throughout the film made Lively into a friend/big sister type character that even I’d want to hang with.

The Bad:

What happened to the gun?

In the beginning of the film, Luli receives a gun for her 13th birthday at the bar where her parents have thrown her a party. Luli is clearly ecstatic about the gun and the following morning when a strange man is in her home, she holds up the gun to him like a pro. He asks what the gun is for, but she corrects him stating that its not a gun but a .54. There’s a also a scene where she stands in the mirror with her revolver repeating lines from Dirty Harry. Even the poster of the movie shows her holding the .54. But then… that’s it. She never uses the gun during her hitchhiking escapade, even when she’s nearly raped in a bathroom. So why the hype for the gun?As for the focus on the gun in the beginning, the only thing I can think of is that the writer/director wanted to establish that Luli was a bit rough around the edges.  I think bringing the gun in at different parts of the movie could’ve helped the story to come more full circle, as the gun is essentially what ends her journey with Glenda and Eddie (another guy who picks Luli up- played by Eddie Redmayne). Basically, the first 10 minutes of the movie oozed around the relationship of young Luli and her beloved gun, and then never mentioned it again.

Why the big celebrities?

Easily the two biggest names in the movie were Alec Baldwin and Juliette Lewis, but they were alsosome of the smallest parts. Lewis plays Luli’s mother, who’s only present for the first 10 or so minutes of the movie and is never seen again. Baldwin plays Beau, who owns the hotel that Eddie brings Luli to when he kidnaps her. But again, he might have 20 lines in the whole film, tops. I understand the excitement of having big Hollywood stars in your movie, but I think you have to utilize it. The small roles of Lewis and Baldwin could’ve been played by any actor as there wasn’t enough time for any real character development or even established dialogue. Their parts seemed more like cameos, and it was sort of strange.

When does it start?

The main issue I had with this film was just a basic lack of plot. The storyline starts out that Luli wants to hitchhike to Las Vegas, but then the movie sort of drifts into nothingness. She gets picked up by Eddie, and runs into him again after getting picked up by Glenda. And then there’s some aside notes where Glenda used to be in some sort of relationship with Eddie, but Luli’s trip, the original plot, get’s stagnant. She literally stops traveling and starts just hanging out with Eddie or Glenda. I thought she was trying to get to Vegas, what happened to that? She starts doing errands and random stuff with Eddie, and I don’t really get why. At some point Luli’s relationship with Eddie takes an awkward turn as he kind of kidnaps her to a hotel. I say kind-of because it didn’t seem like she couldn’t have run away except for the brief period when he ties her to the bed post. Plus remember that gun? Yeah, she still has that in her purse. I think Luli gets a bit of Stockholm syndrome and begins to care for the stranger that she only met a few days earlier, although this relationship is not made clear.

Buy it, Rent it, or Skip it?

Skip it for sure. I had really high hopes for this movie, as I truly enjoy watching the spunky Chloë Grace Moretz on screen and was even surprised at how much I liked Blake Lively, but Hick was a flop. It didn’t seem to start or end anywhere and was a bit of a haze throughout, perpetually losing plot and, for me the viewer, losing interest . There’s no real reason to ever see this movie, unless you’re a huge Blake Lively fan, but even then I think you’ll be bored to death. Hick simply didn’t offer anything substantial. There wasn’t really a message in the end, or a complex relationship explored, or anything that made it memorable in any way. For this, I must demand you skip it.

Overall Score: 0.5 stars out of 5

Trailer: