Gas Food Lodging

The widescreen version shows much more of the brilliant cinematography. The dreary desert, the railroad station, even the trailer park really come alive here. On the other hand, during the famous sex scene in the acid-trip cavern, the picture is cropped right above Ione Skye's breasts, whereas in the pan-and-scan, there is a full view.

This has led me to wonder if this is a "false" widescreen -i.e., the film was shot with standard, @16:9 cameras and cropped to make it look widescreen even if it never was, as Disney did with Peter Pan. It would be nice if standardized and accurate information about aspect ratio was printed clearly on all DVDs.

By the way, the MOVIE is one of the best tearjerkers I've ever seen. The performances are perfect, as is the script. The picture is beautiful. Of course if I actually had to live in a desert trailer park, I don't think I'd be so impressed with the scenery.


"Afraid of Not Having Any Daydreams"   October 29, 2004
chel
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This movie takes place in the 1990's in a dessert town of Laramie, New Mexico. Nora (Brook Adams), is a single mother raising her two daughters the best that she can. She is a waitress at a gas stop/restaurant. Her oldest daughter is Trudi (Ione Skye), who is know around the town as being easy, and ends up pregnant by a Dink, who is a English man, whose job is to look for rare rocks. She gives her mom a hard time, she stays out late at night, and is not going to school. The youngest daughter is Shade (Fairuza Balk), she is considered the "good girl" of the two. She loves to go see movies that star Elvia Rivero. Shade or Shad, wants to be like a "normal" family. She wants to have a father figure, so she looks for a man for her mother. Each one of these characters are looking for love, and this movie not only shows the hard ship of life of each one of them, but also shows their search for love.
On a scale of one to five, I give this movie a five. I really do like this movie. This drama keeps you entertained through the whole movie. I was hoping that for each of them that they would find their true love, and for them to live "happily ever after." The adaptation of Richard Peck's novel, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt is well written, and the actors and actress do a great job. If you like dramas about people looking for love, then you may want to check this out.



an all-time great movie about mothers and daughters   December 12, 2000
Lalalalaura (Washington, DC United States)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is one of the most emotionally true movies I have ever seen. I saw it as a teenager, with my parents, and the next time my mother and I had a fight, it ended when we realized how much we sounded like the characters in this movie and both just started laughing. Gas Food Lodging features the best performances I have ever seen by both Ione Skye (who was also great in Say Anything) and Fairuza Balk, who shows a much greater acting range here than you might suspect if you had only seen her in more recent movies like "The Craft" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau." Almost every single character in this movie is fully realized and well acted, and the story successfully negotiates a wide range of emotions, from the joy of falling in love to feelings of exclusion and loss. Although this story could have come out feeling sad or depressing, I don't think it does; rather, it's bittersweet and all the more memorable for facing up to difficult things.


a definite sleeper... a great film   May 16, 2000
Shelley Shay (Denton, TX **(God Bless the USA!!)**)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

What an awesome film. Rich in culture... who knew we Americans even had a culture? :-)

A story of familial and romantic love in the middle of nowhere. If you liked "Dancer, Texas: Population 81," you'll love this film.

If anyone knows where to get this on DVD, please let me know!


#1   March 14, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

this movie is just brilliant. great actors (james brolin and fairuza balk, both fantastic), beautiful landscapes, heart-rending story...I watched it at least 10 times and I always cry. hay there's even j mascis from dinosaur (he also did a great job on the soundtrack) in a little role. buy it...best movie ever made.