This last weekend I saw The Yellow Handkerchief. I didn’t know anything about the plot and I was surprised to find myself hooked into the story and it’s characters right away. Three strangers meet up to drive across Louisiana. Kristen Stewart played a needy teen looking for affirmation. The other young man I had not seen before, but his vulnerability and awkwardness was appealing. And William Hurt played a lonely
On the open road
man with flashbacks and some kind of hidden secret. It was hard to tell where the story would go, and if all these strangers were safe with one another.
I’m not sure if this is an indie film or not, but it did not have the look or feel of a sparkly Hollywood flick. I get tired of those. The lighting, the scenery, the wardrobes, were all very natural and non-assuming, reflecting a hardscrabble life and characters with hardened emotions. I really appreciate a movie tells a story where the characters go through a journey, and by the end are somehow changed. This is that kind of story. All three begin to open up to each other in their own way, and except where the others are at. Especially as Hurt’s Brett opens up about his past, it is clear how stuck he is in his head, and desperate he is to be free of guilt.
So if you get a chance, and you too are tired of the same fare, give this one a try. It opens in wide release this month.
