Refuge (IV) (2010)

Amelia is on the run in the family RV, with husband Jack's body in the back and hostage Darryl at the wheel. Romance blossoms as Jack decomposes.

Director:

Mark Medoff

Writers:

Mark Medoff (story), Mark Medoff,

Stars:

Linda Hamilton, Chris Payne Gilbert, Lena Georgas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Linda Hamilton	...	Amelia Philips
Chris Payne Gilbert	...	Darryl Tripp
Lena Georgas	...	Helen Kaufman
Christopher McDonald	...	Jack Phillips
Amy Lanasa	...	Melodie Semple
Doyle Smith	...	Officer Gummy
Jessica Medoff Bunchman	...	Mother in Bookstore
Grace Marks	...	Little Girl in Bookstore
Jack Malone	...	Mayor Rivera
Eric Seo	...	Helen Kaufman's Assistant
Marcelle Bowman	...	Camille Portillo
Rachel Harrison	...	Birthday Party Mom
Mike Lutz	...	Birthday Party Dad
Hudson Harrison	...	Birthday Party Knight
Cooper Harrison	...	Birthday Party Pirate

Storyline

The shimmering New Mexico sun bleaches the earth and reflects off towering thunderheads. From inside an RV nestled among the desert brush just off a barely-paved road, the middle-of-nowhere silence is broken by one quick and alarming gunshot. Nothing moves. Moments later, out of the waves of a heat mirage emerges a leather clad Darryl Tripp, high school English teacher, astride a screaming motorcycle. His mission is to toss his just completed first novel to the four winds, an act of self-loathing and despair. As he stops and pulls the novel out of his satchel, his motorcycle sputters and dies, out of fuel. He stands high on his cycle and spies the lone RV, a hope of help. He rolls his motorcycle to the RV, knocks, gets no answer. He opens the unlocked door, steps inside, taking shelter. As he finishes a phone call with his fiancée, deputy district attorney Helen Kaufman, promising to be on time for their engagement party that evening, Amelia Philips, hospice nurse and RV owner, ...

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Plot Keywords:

gun | redemption | dead body | new mexico | teacher | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frantic Redhead Productions, Refuge Productions, Westmark Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Is It Now Already?"
written by Harriet Schock
performed by Anna Montgomery
produced by Evan Frankfort at Would Work Sound

User Reviews

Very bad directing, bad writing, tries to become a black comedy, halfway through.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I only watched it (on Netflix streaming) because I love Chris McDonald & could watch him polish his shoes and be entertained. Also, I was hoping to see a Linda Hamilton "comeback". I know she's had sort of a hard time, of late. And the description of it on Netflix made it sound like an interesting story.

Christopher, in his small but important role, was wonderful, as he always is. But he could not save this. He could not have saved it even if he had played a much larger part. Nothing and nobody could save this.

In the hands of a better director & writer, and with decent editing, I think it could have been a pretty good B-type film. The premise was interesting, but the direction & writing were so bad it ended up being a complete, barely watchable disaster.

I'm not sure exactly how much blame the editor should assume, but especially the first 45 min. were obviously "badly chopped up", with things happening with no background having been provided. I went back, over & over & over again, to try to understand several scenes, and found I hadn't missed anything, the details were just not there.

It didn't help that about halfway through, this attempts to become a dark comedy... for no apparent reason, other than that the writer/director decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix. Sadly, none of it worked, on any level.

All in all, this is one you should be sure to miss.