Middle of Nowhere (2012)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The script is only good as the actors and the actors were above average. They showed passion and emotion through their characterization and was able to present real-life empathy in their situations. I am surprised this movie didn't make it into the box office and if it did, it was purely underrated. The story line also exhibited a common scenario that many families deal with regarding incarceration of loved ones. I can watch this movie multiple times and still feel the realness of the actors' life story. Also, many ladies deal with their husbands and boyfriends behind bars and it's a constant battle with one's self too either rock it out with them or just move on.

Middle of Nowhere ***1/2 (2012) 1hr. 41 min.Ava Duvernay is one of a new exciting filmmakers in independent cinema, whose stories about relationships about black Americans and issues surrounding their spouses, parents, siblings, etc. and how complicated and loyal black women can be when it comes to black men. Some black women go through enormous sacrifices of personal happiness within themselves and in this film, shows how loyalty can lead to question one's purpose on earth, in which, that very dedication is tested, when she meets a man one day and she questions that very attachment to her significant other.The story is about a young black woman, a registered nurse named Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) who lives with her sister a waitress named Rosie (Edwina Findley Dickerson) and her young son. Ruby is paying for an attorney to represent a case involving Ruby's husband Derek (Omari Hardwick) who has been in jail for 4 years on a weapons charge. She loves him and is focused on having the life they planned before he was incarcerated when he is released from jail. When the parole hearing occurs, with Ruby being the attentive dutiful wife-- hears a bombshell in the courtroom. Ruby questions her commitment to the marriage, which leads to a budding romance with a Bus driver Brian (David Oyelowo). Brian knows that she is married but senses tension within the marriage by Ruby's nonverbal behavior and seeing a ring that appears on her left finger to be a wedding ring. Ruby then has to decide to either continue with her marriage to Derek or begin another romance with a new suitor. Ruby also has to deal with the relationship with her mother and her disappointment of her daughter's lifestyles choices.The film is beautifully written by Ava Duvernay the dialogue is very poetic and introspective of the inner dialogue she gives Ruby, who is a woman who loves her husband, but has to deal with one obstacle after another because of her husband irresponsible behavior. Ruby represents a lot of black women who are dedicated spouses who put with a lot of nonsense of their boyfriends or husbands, because of the racist society that we live in. Many black women feel the black man in America today, get such a raw deal, by the systematic racism that exists in America. Despite years of laws that should have made discrimination less and less problematic, which has unfortunately, had limited effectiveness to curb racism in large numbers. All the performances are quite good and Troussaint has great moment when she's at the dinner table, at her daughters house, she is disappointed with one daughter's choice of profession and an ex- boyfriend who is an absentee father and Rosie, not wanting Mother Ruth to spend time with her grandson and the other daughter Ruby, who is too loyal to a man who is not worthy of her daughter. "Middle of Nowhere" is a fine second feature and gives Duvernay the opportunity to make more intellectual and thoughtful movies, about people in complicated relationships and situations. I predict Duvernay will make more thought provoking films in the future years to come.

It is always refreshing to see good indie movies exploring dark themes in a sensitive and almost lyric way. These are, incidentally, the two major strong points of this movie.There are many titles, some rather good ones, exploring incarceration an its effects on the person behind bars. Multiple angles and story lines are explored, almost always from the incarcerated point of view. 'Middle of Nowhere', instead, puts the focus on an accomplished young woman whose life hangs still when her young husband is incarcerated for a long term, and makes the movie about the effects of incarceration on people who are on the outside, supposedly free, but actually suffering by proxy a set of restrictions and struggles that derive from the fact that a loved one or in-law is not present. That is an interesting take on the subject.Nonetheless, the script is just too slow. There are several cogent reasons for a script to be slow, such as character development, parallel narratives - but none of them could possible justify it here. Thus, it becomes very difficult to keep paying attention on what the director had in mind as dozens of minutes are just fillers that, in turn, are juxtaposed with some pivotal scenes that are paradoxically too hurried up.

Middle of Nowhere offers a beauty that is almost inarticulate in its depth. Whatever one may think that they are going to get from a story about a couple's struggle to have their relationship survive the husband's incarceration, Ava DuVernay rightly skips over the cliché straight into a story of truth, brokenness, and dignity. The truth that comes like a firestorm for the lead character is immediate and confrontational to her existence. She's a woman who, in trying to do the right thing, embarks on a journey for the real thing. DuVernay is not afraid of ambiguity for her film or her characters. This fearlessness begets the dignity in embracing one's brokenness as the only path to healing and true hope. True hope – not a cookie-cutter version of hope – but a hard won, gritty, and soul-freeing journey to a hope belies an understanding and embracing of the pursuit of purpose as a journey and not a destination. Middle of Nowhere illustrated that peace and redemption is not always pretty. DuVernay takes her time in the telling of this story. This time is a gift given to the viewer – the gift of sitting with the characters and not merely experiencing an emotional drive-by for the sake of a slick, face-paced delivery. I cannot say enough about the performances in the film. Emayatzy E. Corinealdi is a jewel of an actress. David Oyelowo and Omari Hardwick approach their roles with authenticity and clarity. DuVernay and the entire cast and crew create and invite the audience into a beautifully complicated world and then trust the audience to do the "heavy lifting" of interpretation.