Drool

He uses the N word to refer to the gorgeous AfroAmerican babe (Jill Marie Jones) who's moved in next door. If something bad happens to this guy (Oded Fehr) he won't be getting much sympathy. And he keeps a loaded handgun in the underwear drawer, like this is a propaganda weapons control advertisement. Who's telling the story? - teenage Tabitha (Ashley Duggan Smith) reckons this is her story. As we watch, she takes a crash course in maturity, graduating from obnoxious to tentatively reflective - while her delightful little drawings comment on the narrative.

Oklahoma, the territory sincerely promised to Native American tribes - until grass and grain were discovered growing in its dirt and oil underneath it. Rodgers and Hammerstein get an endorsement from the state's PR office, "Drool" maybe not. Stereotypes are tiresome when they're presented as real life, but writer/director Nancy Kissam adroitly manoeuvres cliché into a postmodern cinema language. This is one terrific movie.

Tabitha's mother (Laura Harring) dreams of a handsome, charming lover - male of course. Of course? Sweet daydreams are sweet, but soft quivering lips are sweeter. And cosmetics were always going to look even better on coloured gals. Once Dad isn't telling his son (Christopher Newhouse) what a worthless wimp he is, it's time for the boy to enjoy being himself, his real self. Roles are cheerfully upended. It's America, all growed up, and I loved it.