“THANKS TO GRAVITY” (2006)

Starring: Gina Philips, Sean Astin, Adam Rodriguez, Joaquim de Almeida, Rachel Miner, Austin Nichols, Shirley Knight, Bryan Greenberg, Azura Skye & Eve Gordon
Written & Directed by Jessica Kavana
Voyage Entertainment

Polly Staffle Rating: *** (If I gave half stars, this one would get three and a half.)

The story behind “Thanks to Gravity” is not new. It’s been told numerous times with different variations. A smart and talented young girl is raised a certain way by her parents and does not have her own identity. She rebels against them, gets involved with the wrong crowd, experiments while trying to find herself and puts her future in jeopardy. Something traumatic happens to her and she can’t escape it. She is pulled in several directions and feels completely alone in the world. In the end, the girl matures into a woman. She now understands her parents only want the best for her and they mean well. The woman faces her fears and is ready to move forward, instead of looking backwards. She ultimately realizes she is in control of her life. Where she goes and what she does is her decision. If she ends up an old woman regretting her life, the only one to blame will be herself.

“Thanks to Gravity” is the independent debut from writer and director Jessica Kavana. It’s quite impressive for her first time out. It’s not a perfect film and it does fall into some coming of age cliché traps, but it also deals with heavy issues not often addressed in the Hollywood-made versions. Based on her own Latin-Jewish upbringing and experience as a top female debater, Kavana’s screenplay begins and ends like most of these types of movies, but it also touches on subjects like rape, drugs, death and heartbreak. It’s kind of a cross between the Britney Spears vehicle “Crossroads,” the Katie Holmes teen movie “First Daughter” with the Showtime-made “Speak,” the Latin flavored “Real Women Have Curves” and the HBO-produced “Blue Car.” I have to admit, I am a fan of movies such as these. You always know what’s going to happen and usually there is a cheesy feel good ending, but I admittedly like them. That being said, “Thanks to Gravity” is probably the best female coming of age film I’ve seen.

Produced by actress Gina Philips, who also stars, and Las Vegas native Amy Greenspun, “Thanks to Gravity” follows Jordan Landa as she struggles with who she is as a person. She is a talented debater and gets a scholarship to a prestigious college before getting involved with bad elements, finding herself regretting mistakes and confused with what to do with her life.

Like I said, the film is cliché so you know she faces her fears, prevails and everything is fine in the end, but several things really help set this film apart from those I previously mentioned. One is the lead actress. Philips (“Jeepers Creepers”) is extremely good in the role of Jordan. She is an emotional rollercoaster here and from what I understand was highly involved in the project as a producer. Philips, who can light up a room with her smile, actually said she felt too involved at times during a Q&A after the screening I saw at CineVegas. I imagine she put in a lot of effort and had a lot of fun with this film. She should be proud of her performance. Philips is able to play geeky, vulnerable, sexy and strong through the course of the film. Philips isn’t exploited in the role like Britney Spears was in her movie, but instead gives a believable heartfelt performance. Look for many good things to come from her in the future and the same can be said for Kavana, who also cameos in the film.

With Miami as the backdrop for the film, the visuals are fantastic as the photography and editing are both solid. The story opens with Jordan as a young girl watching television with her grandfather. They enjoy watching inspirational speakers together like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Hilary Clinton. Instead of immediately cutting to Jordon as a young adult, Kavana shows the age progression by circling the camera around the room, changing the speaker on television and giving us an older Jordan each time around. I also loved the thoughtful way the rape scene was handled. The event doesn’t play out linearly, but is shown in a flashback. We are shown Jordon meeting a boy. The scene then jumps to Jordon leaving a hotel room in terror. Next we see Jordon sitting on top of a table alone in a laundry mat. The reflection of her entire body can be seen in a dryer. The framing suggests the isolation, loneliness and despair she feels. We then see her face. She is crying. The think back then plays. Doing it this way, the audience is set up for what they are about to see. The scene doesn’t come as a shock and audiences are able to feel Jordan’s suffering instead of feeling offended by the movie.

“Thanks to Gravity” also has a terrific supporting cast with Rachel Minor (“Bully”), Sean Astin (“Rudy”) Adam Rodriguez (“C.S.I.: Miami”), Joaquim de Almeida (“Desperado”) and Azura Skye (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). Skye plays Jordon’s lesbian roommate Nina and is one of the film’s more memorable characters. She even gets to give the speech about giving thanks to gravity because it’s what keeps us grounded. I could have done without that as I’m not a huge fan of films that spell out their titles, but I know I’m not the film’s target audience anyway. Many of the other good actors here are very underused. Minor’s is the “wild” best friend Sophia, Astin plays the “inspirational” debate coach, Rodriguez is a “womanizer” that thinks so highly of himself he has a poster of himself on his wall and de Almeida gets to be the “overbearing” dad. That’s actually only half the cast. There are way too many characters with not enough time spent on each one in my opinion. Instead of them all being developed key players, none of them get a chance to shine. In a way, I think that is what Kavana was going for though. We will come in contact with a lot of people in our lives. Some will hurt us, some will aid us in our journey and others will just be people we happen to pass at some point in time.

Though I’m not sure it has quite the commercial or long standing appeal of “Dirty Dancing” and “My Girl” or as much quirkiness as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Thanks To Gravity” does have the potential to be a sleeper word-of-mouth hit. Whether it’s successful is to be seen, but one thing is certain, it’s a hell of a lot better than those films.

Recommendations

“SAINT RALPH” (2004)
“MARIA FULL OF GRACE” (2004)
“THE WHITE HORSE IS DEAD” (2005)
“THE INKWELL” (1994)
“ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW” (2005)

- CCF, June 2006