See it because its lead actress, Jessica Chastain, delivers a knockout performance that earned her roles in several high-profile projects to come. There's even early Oscar talk surrounding her work in Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," so the star-in-the-making must be the real deal (which she is).
Based on a short story by E.L. Doctorow ("Ragtime," "Billy Bathgate"), Dan Ireland's drama
That doesn't last long. Nor Jolene's stay in a mental ward, a lesbian affair, a marriage to a tattoo artist (Rupert Friend, "The Young Victoria," channeling a mix of Johnny Depp and Russell Brand), being a kept mistress of a Vegas bigwig (Chazz Palminteri) and several other situations, including out-of-necessity stints as a stripper and a prostitute. Can she finally find happiness with an oil-wealthy Tulsan (Michael Vartan, TV's "Alias")? Don't answer too quickly.
With Jolene suffering a tragedy between each broken heart, the film sounds like the stuff of a week of Lifetime movies. Ireland's script is smarter than that, even if his work feels episodic, with characters entering for a stretch and then exiting for good. But it allows Jolene to fine-tune her true identity as she tries on many figurative hats, and thus, allows Chastain to develop a character that grows before our very eyes, from naive to nurturing to determined.
The movie is good. Chastain is astounding. —Rod Lott
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