I saw this movie on TV last night, I was about to stop watching it, as too sad and depressing, but thankfully realized it was a movie worth seeing. It's about a mother-daughter relationship, set in an abandoned wasteland, when the mother disappears after running off with some guy, and the daughter finds alone, with her uncle as the only person to hold on to. They will set off for a journey along desert highways, which will lead both to come to terms with what they really are and what they want to be, and the uncle-niece relationship will get particular significance. Outstanding performances from the whole cast, Charlize Theron, whose performance reminded me of "The burning plain" and "North country", seems so at ease in such lacerating roles (here a short role, indeed), and once again proves that physical beauty can go hand in hand with strong interpretations, without diminishing their level. However, this is about all Tara's story, the story of a 12-year-old abandoned daughter, showing a determination and an inner strength that adults seem to have completely lost. She is wonderfully interpreted by AnnaSophia Robb, featuring very mature and intense acting. It's certainly a slow movie, but slowness is necessary to offer the right insight into the characters and to let the viewer enter the right atmosphere. As a whole, a sad and heavy movie, about the intolerable hardships of life, but the actors' and the director's commitment make it an intense, realistic and never pedantic picture.
