A West Texas Children's Story (2007)

Set in the 1960s, a magical tale of two 12-year-olds embarking on an adventure to find new, cool parents and escape their neglected, overly adult existence.

Director:

Brad Isaacs

Writer:

Brad Isaacs

Stars:

Cayden Boyd, Lara Flynn Boyle, Matthew Modine

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cayden Boyd	...	Ben Reynolds
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Ben's Mother
Matthew Modine	...	Ben's Father
Noah Grabowski	...	Ben at 2
J.D. Garfield	...	Father in Diner
Johnny Cotugno	...	Plumber (as John Cotugno)
Jeff Griffin	...	Roofer
Candace Campfield	...	Accountant
Mary Evans	...	Cassie's Mother
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Cassie Kennington
Mike Miller	...	Sheriff LeClaire (as Michael Miller)
Bill Allen	...	Cassie's Father (as William Lawrence Allen)
Michael Clark	...	Truck Driver #1
Boots Southerland	...	Truck Driver #2 (as Boots Sutherland)
Val Kilmer	...	Henderson

Storyline

In the 60's, in West Texas, twelve year-old Ben is a boy neglected by his parents. His mother is obsessed by the movie stars of Hollywood and every afternoon she goes to the movie theater, while his father spends his spare time building a boat. One night, there is a car wreck in front of Ben's parents dining where only the girl Cassie survives with a broken arm. Ben's parents lodges Cassie during her recovery and she becomes friend of Ben. Later the mature girl convinces Ben to travel with her to Baltimore, where her modern and liberal aunt and uncle live. They hitchhike through Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia in a journey of friendship and discoveries until they reach Baltimore. Their adventure ends when Cassie has a breakdown and is interned in the Mercy Psychiatric Ward in Virginia and Ben joins the Military Academy in North Caroline to stay close to Cassie. But the girl had a plan for them and Ben gives his best effort to make her dream come true.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | alcoholic father | abusive father | sexual abuse | child abuse | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Val Kilmer, who lives on a nearby New Mexico ranch, agreed to participate in this film secondary to his work with New Mexico's Film Investment Program.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ben: [narrating] I'm just a kid, there's a lot I don't know. But one thing I do know, is that my folks should never have married. And they definitely should never had a kid.

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Soundtracks

Blue Christmas
Written by Billy Hayes (as Bill Hayes) and Jay Johnson (as Jay W. Johnson)
Performed by Ernest Tubb
Courtesy of Universal Music Publishing

User Reviews

surprisingly good

There are many films that are like this on first impression. Road trips and coming of age stories have become, for the most part, worn out genres in Hollywood. But sometimes a little gem like this one will slip through the cracks.

The story is simple: boy and girl meet up, travel the road together, meet some colourful characters, unforeseen tragedy strikes, all leading to a bitter-sweet ending. It's all been done many times before. But not like this. I don't mean to say that this is the best road trip/coming of age film, simply that it is unique in it's style and visual look.

Despite the fact that it came out in 2007, this movie has the look of a film from the sixties or seventies. The camera quality is not very good, and the whole picture feels tinged with some sepia (?) colouring.

It feels almost as if it were made unprofessionally, though the appearance of notable actors like Val Kilmer, Heather Graham, and AnnaSophia Robb suggests otherwise.

In short, it looks like it was filmed by the same camera that did Birdemic. But perhaps the most endearing quality to this film is it's slightly amateurish look.

It seems like it should be either a complete sentimental schlock-fest , or a no budget trashy direct to video.

But it isn't.

It succeeds on several levels emotionally, and provides characters we grow to care for. If you can get past the grainy visuals you will find a story of surprising depth.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

West Texas Lullaby

Filming Locations:

Mountainair, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thunder Bay Pictures, West Texas New Mexico Films, WolfGang Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color