| | | Ready or not... the future comes just the same.
Features: DVD
Featuring the unforgettable performances of sensational newcomer Agnes Bruckner (Murder By Numbers), David Strathairn (L.A. Confidential), Margaret Colin (Unfaithful), and Frances Fisher (Titanic) tells a powerful coming of age story in the provocative style of American Beauty. Having been abandoned by her father and neglected by her overworked mother (Colin), young Meg (Bruckner) turns to her English teacher (Strathairn) for solace and inspiration. But the safety of what begins as a mentoring relationship turns increasingly complex and ambiguous as the tension in her family grows! Overwhelmingly acclaimed by the nation's critics, this powerful tale of sex and betrayal is certain to leave you with a lasting impression!
"Two Thumbs Up" Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Echoes American Beauty in its vision of suburban life." The New York Times
"Powerful!" Enertainment Weekly!
Editor's Note
Agnes Bruckner delivers an impressive, assured performance with BLUE CAR, an affecting coming-of-age drama from Karen Moncrieff. Bruckner is Meg, a beautiful teenager who is desperate to find inspiration and guidance in her otherwise tumultuous life. At an early age, her father left her family behind. Now, there is only her edgy mother, Diane (Margaret Colin), and her increasingly aloof younger sister, Lily (Regan Arnold). Salvation appears to arrive in the presence of Mr. Auster (David Strathairn), Meg's reserved English teacher who takes an interest in Meg's poetry. It isn't long before both Meg and Mr. Auster begin to take an interest in each other, and as an approaching national poetry competition brings the two closer together, deeper feelings emerge. But Meg eventually learns a painful secret about Mr. Auster, which shatters her impressions of the man, and threatens to push her over the edge forever.Moncrieff, a former television actress turned writer-director, turns her potentially formulaic material into ultimately moving entertainment. This can be attributed to the performances of her lead actors. As the conflicted Meg, Bruckner is a perfect blend of budding sexuality and adolescent bitterness. As her damaged teacher, Strathairn is at turns deeply comforting and crushingly evil.
| Features | Subtitles:English | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Audio: English Dolby Digital |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 9/7/2004 |
| Running Time: 88 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 3275903 | | UPC: 00786936229608 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...BLUE CAR is a most impressive writing and directing debut for Karen Moncrieff..." 05/02/2003 p.E16USA Today
"...Strathairn takes an unsympathetic role and gives it complexity, creating a character that feels chillingly real....BLUE CAR is like an unpolished sapphire, at once harshly realistic and resplendent..." 05/02/2003 p.14D Los Angeles Times
"...[Bruckner] accomplishes a considerable amount without words, using body language and facial expressions -- including a smile that is as dazzling as it is rare -- to flesh out her character..." 05/02/2003 p.C4 Entertainment Weekly
"...First-time director Karen Moncrieff steers the precocious newcomer Bruckner down a road full of twists and turns, and the film is well worth the ride..." 10/17/2003 p.66 Rolling Stone 8 of 10
It could have been the sappiest of soap operas. Eighteen-year-old Meg (Agnes Bruckner) is shattered by her father's desertion, her mother's neglect and her sister's self-mutiliation. Meg leans on Mr. Auster (David Strathairn), the married English teacher and father figure who encourages her to enter a poetry contest. At the finals in Florida, mentor and student blunder into a brutal sexual intimacy. - Peter Travers
San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
Blue Car is saved by Moncrieff's sure hand with the camera (aided by director of photography Rob Sweeney) and her actors. Early on, the girls' mother comes home and realizes that they've been fighting again. She bangs on the bedroom door, ordering Lilly to come out. She does, and the scene of the little girl in the doorway, head bowed and silent, is heartbreaking. - C.W Nevius
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Blue Car, written and directed by Karen Moncrieff, is wise in the way it follows the progress of the story. Auster wants to have sex with Meg, but it must be within the twisted terms of his own compromised morality. She must in some sense seem to agree to it. I will leave it to you to witness how this scenario plays out, and to observe the sadness with which he pursues his pathetic goal. - Roger Ebert
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