Lola (2001)

Director:

Carl Bessai

Writer:

Carl Bessai (writer)

Release Date:

26 April 2002 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Running Down A Dream

Plot:

The story follows a troubled woman and her search for identity. She is given a choice between a return to the dysfunction of the past, or a new life in self assumed identity. |

Plot Keywords:

Mixed Identity | One Word Title | Female Nudity | Mistaken Identity | Switched Identity

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sabrina Grdevich	...	Lola
Joanna Going	...	Sandra
Colm Feore	...	Mike
Janet Wright	...	Ma Keller
Ian Tracey	...	The Passenger
Chris William Martin	...	The Driver
Gina Chiarelli	...	Boutique Owner
Rachel Hayward	...	Woman at Phonebooth
Suleka Mathew	...	Coffee Shop Woman
Michael Sunczyk	...	Ted
Frida Betrani	...	Dancer
Jeff Seymour	...	Horny Man
Joe McCoy	...	1st Old Man in Cafe
Andre Danyliu	...	2nd Old Man in Cafe
Glen Gould	...	Cafe Owner

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Canada:14+

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Movie Network, The (TMN)

Movie Connections:

References Lola (1981)

Somebody send Lola a plot

Found this piece-of-drek DVD in the bargain bin of my grocery store. Even at $4.99, it was overpriced.

It starts off interestingly enough: Lola, the young woman sits prim and mute in a big leather chair, the camera moving gently back and forth until we hear her therapist ask, "Why are you here?"

Lola: "I don't know."

Therapist: "Well, what do you hope to accomplish here?"

Lola: "I don't know. I kind of feel like... I don't know."

Then, she gets up and walks out. End of scene. What the heck are we supposed to take from that? There MUST be a better way to dramatize a main character in search of identity than that.

I think that's the main problem: the director, Carl Bessai started off as a camera operator and went straight to director without ever learning screen writing along the way. There is only the slightest semblance of story, numerous implausible plot turns, wooden characters, dreadful on-the-nose dialogue and no coherent character arc to pull the viewers in.

Compromises are rife throughout this movie, aside from the choice of director/script. Sabrina Grdevich (Lola) may be a fine actress but was clearly not ready for this movie. She seems plump and her performance seems guarded. There is a short nude scene, for example, where she remains conspicuously clothed.

Her husband, played by Colm Feore, is a brutish one-dimensional character and one cannot see how they ever ended up together.

Joanna Going (I love that name) plays Sandra and is a charismatic actress but is given little to do, except say bad lines. She should have got the lead if you ask me, as Sandra is quickly killed off by a loan shark. Apparently nobody bothered to ask Mr. Bessai why a loan shark would kill his client - how then would he collect?

Amateurish mistakes: there is a scene where you can clearly see the camera crew reflected in a store window as the character walks down the street - duh?

About half way through the movie, Lola boards a train out of town and the story has run out of gas. She meets some guy, a plumber, who tells his story and goes away; she meets another guy hitchhiking and nothing comes of it; she meets Sandra's mother who, conveniently enough, has gone blind and, supposedly, can't recognize her daughter anymore.

Lola wraps up the movie by saying "I'll be around." The writer forgot to put in the part about why we're supposed to care.