Come Early Morning (2006)

A thirty-something southern woman searches for love, despite the burdens she carries with her.

Director:

Joey Lauren Adams

Writer:

Joey Lauren Adams

Stars:

Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Tim Blake Nelson

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashley Judd	...	Lucille Fowler
Jason T. Davis	...	Motel Man
Richard Lee Crow	...	Motel Clerk
Laura Prepon	...	Kim
Christine Renee Ward	...	Sue (as Christy Ward)
Candyce Hinkle	...	Doll
Scott Wilson	...	Lowell Fowler
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Uncle Tim
Pat Corley	...	Papa
Diane Ladd	...	Nana
Wally Welch	...	Eli
Ritchie Montgomery	...	Bob
Jeffrey Donovan	...	Cal, Cal Percell
Rick Dial	...	Mike
Nancy Wilder	...	Michelle (as Nancy Ellen Mills)

Storyline

The sins of the fathers. In a town near Little Rock, Lucy Fowler works hard for a construction firm; on weekends she drinks, goes home with someone, and come early morning, wakes and leaves as fast as she can. She cares a lot about her father, newly back in town, a painfully shy man who has nothing to say to her. She does go to a Holy Roller church with him about the same time that she starts, fitfully, a relationship with Cal Percell, new in town and a good guy. She kisses him sober, but still has demons to confront. What's the source of her careless ways; can she turn coal into a diamond?

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Plot Keywords:

banging one's fist on a table | watching tv | woman fights a woman | woman | church | 

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Taglines:

Before you fall in love, you need to love yourself.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual situations

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 August 2007 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

A Cada Manhã

Filming Locations:

Arkansas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$50,160, 12 November 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$119,452, 2 January 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bold Films, Firm Films, Holly Wiersma Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chief influences for Joey Lauren Adams in writing the screenplay were Tender Mercies (1983) and Urban Cowboy (1980).

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Goofs

The jukebox Lucy picks up sits in the back of the pick-up truck for most of the movie because she doesn't know what she is going to do with it. After her breakdown, she goes back to apologize to her father for her drunken outrage the night before and when she pulls up, the jukebox is missing from the back of her truck - it's easy to tell as the jukebox is higher than the cab of her pick-up. In the next scene, when she goes to visit Cal, the jukebox is back on her pick-up truck.

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Quotes

Doll: You got no say over your heart, Lucy. And if you think you do, you'd best not let yours roam too far.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Casino Royale/Happy Feet/Bobby/Fast Food Nation/Candy/Come Early Morning (2006)

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Soundtracks

DON'T KNOCK
Performed by The Taylor Grocery Band
Written by Roebuck 'Pops' Staples (as Roebuck "Pops" Staples) & Wesley Westbrooks (BMI)
Published by Conrad Music
Courtesy of Electric Catfish Records

User Reviews

Ruby revisited

Joey Lauren Admans "Come Early Morning" seems almost like a continuation of the film that made its star, Ashley Judd, famous, Victor Nunez' "Ruby in Paradise." Both pictures are about girls trying to make a life for themselves in small southern towns, but Lucy, the protagonist of "Early Morning" is at least a decade older than Ruby. That is why it seems almost to be the next chapter in Ruby's story.

The decade has not treated the protagonist well. Where as Ruby was a sort of wide eyed innocent, Lucy is now a woman whose journey through life is encumbered by a lot of baggage.

She has problems relating to men on a romantic level, seeing them as either cold and unresponsive like her father or just mean and domineering like some of the other men in her family and the slugs she picks up in local bars.

So, somewhat predictably, when she meets a nice guy, she rejects him enough times that he eventually moves on.

Ashley Judd is such a fine, appealing actress that she keeps you glued to the screen, despite the somewhat predictable plot twists. But there is something about the screenplay which fails, for I never had much faith in her character, who in many ways seemed as emotionally bottled up as her father.

And that's the film's failure. "Ruby" ended on a hopeful note, if for no other reason than that the central character was smart, resourceful and had her whole life ahead of her. "Come Early Morning's" protagonist faces a cloudy future and while the film showed guts in admitting that, it didn't leave you wanting to see more of Lucy the way the earlier film made you want more of Ruby.

Nice try by everyone involved, but it was just too dark a picture in many ways.

One final note. So many films these days have no significant subplot. Lucy had some kind of construction business, but it was so downplayed that in the end, when she takes over the business, we don't exactly know how big an achievement that is, or if it really means more to her than just taking on harder work for no real pay off.

This film could have been more effective had her career or some other aspect of her life been more fully developed so that she faced some real test there as well. Subplots are important in that they give stories and their protagonists depth. And of course, the stakes always need to be higher for the protagonist, to make us care.