Taglines: Trouble travels together.
The movie starts off in a small town in Nebraska. Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz) sits on the steps of her school, drawing (she is obviously something of a loner with few, if no, friends). Her father, an alcoholic, drives up to the school and crashes into a play structure.
The scene cuts to a bar, where Luli’s 13th birthday party is taking place. She is surrounded by adults who are more interested in drinking than her birthday – one of her presents is a revolver (a Colt 45). At the end of the “party”, Luli is left with her mother, Tammy (Juliette Lewis), and drunk father, Nick (Anson Mount). Nick leaves for his car, but gets out when Tammy yells that he can’t go anywhere in his current condition. He grabs Luli, telling her to get in the car, and Tammy grabs Luli’s other arm, apologizing. Luli is rescued by the bartender, who drives her home with Luli clutching the case with her pistol in it.
The next morning, Luli practices holding her gun, aiming it at her reflection in a mirror. She hears a noise in her kitchen and approaches it with her 45 ready. She sees Lux (Bob Stephenson), an investment worker, filling out paperwork. Tammy arrives, sends Luli into a different room, and leaves in a car with Lux, suitcases packed, as Luli watches. When Nick later asks where Tammy is, Luli just says she left with Lux.
Luli is painting her toenails when she sees an advertisement for Las Vegas on tv. She turns it off but starts drawing a path from her town to Vegas on a map. She makes a list of pros and cons that has “might die” on the cons side. She stuffs the map, her revolver, and some clothes in her bag and leaves the house.
She is picked up on the side of the road by Eddie (Eddie Redmayne). She tells him about Vegas, then says her dad left her and her mom has died. He agrees to drive her, and they get along fine until he tells her what she’s wearing makes her look like a “hooker”; she insults his limp, causing him to pull over and threaten to hurt her. Luli gets out of his truck, and he drives away.
Sleeping in a ditch near the road, Luli is woken up by Glenda (Blake Lively), who’s pulled over to relieve herself. Once again, Luli lies about why she’s out by the road, saying that she got in a fight with someone who loved her. She asks for a ride, and Glenda eventually gives in. Luli tries a drug that Glenda hands her and hallucinates, after she recovers they pull over at a run-down gas station.
Glenda has Luli walk into the station’s shop, ask the cashier for gum, then fall onto the floor, pretending to go into spasms. When the cashier leans over Luli, he falls to the ground as well, unconscious. Glenda enters the store, steals from the cash register then leaves quickly with Luli when she sees the cashier on the floor. Luli is against leaving the cashier there, and persuades Glenda to call an ambulance. Later, she asks Glenda for some more of the drug, but Glenda refuses.
Their next stop is a bowling alley, where Glenda is clearly a regular at the bar. She sends Luli out to the car to get the large stuffed bunny she keeps in the back seat for a boy in the bowling alley whom Glenda calls Angel (important later); Luli is startled when she sees Eddie standing in front of the car. Wary, Luli asks if he’s stalking her. He explains that two people both heading west are bound to cross paths, and says that they got off on the wrong foot. At night, Luli is awoken by the sound of Glenda crying. The next morning, Glenda asks Luli to tell her the truth about where she came from, but Luli insists she isn’t lying.
Glenda takes them to a house belonging to Lloyd, Glenda’s husband, who welcomes Luli. Inside, Luli again sees Eddie. She privately tells Glenda that Eddie is the guy who’s following her, but Glenda instead says that she’s the one he’s actually following. Lloyd, oblivious, introduces the girls to Eddie. Lloyd spots a bottle of soda (Squirt) and yells at Eddie (who tends to the bar inside Lloyd’s house) for “skimping on the 7-Up”, then makes him apologize to Glenda, who tears up but hides that fact from Lloyd.
Luli later talks to Eddie, apologizing for insulting him in his truck. She goes into town with him, but he makes her stay in his truck while he plays pool. Tired of waiting, she interrupts his game, causing him to lose right after he doubled his stakes. Eddie’s opponent offers him the chance to recoup his losses, but since Eddie has nothing left, he uses Luli as his wager.
Hick is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Derick Martini, based on the novel of the same name by Andrea Portes that draws on non-fictional elements. The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Eddie Redmayne, Ray McKinnon, Rory Culkin, Juliette Lewis, Blake Lively, and Alec Baldwin. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011. It received a limited theatrical release on May 11 and is distributed by Phase 4 Films.
Hick (2012)
Directed by: Derick Martini
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Rory Culkin, Juliette Lewis, Anson Mount, Robert Baker, Bob Stephenson, Leon Lamar, Shaun Sipos, Dartanian Sloan, Brian Avery Galligan, Tim Parati
Screenplay by: Andrea Portes
Production Design by: Roshelle Berliner
Cinematography by: Frank Godwin
Film Editing by: Mark Yoshikawa
Costume Design by: Erika Munro
Set Decoration by: Andy Krish
Art Direction by: Brian Stultz
Music by: Larry Campbell
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing content involving a teen, violence, drug use, language and drinking.
Distributed by: Phase 4 Films
Release Date: May 11, 2012
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