Hick (2011)

Chloe Grace Moretz is Luli, a thirteen year old girl who is at a bar with her mother for her birthday. One of the presents is a real live gun. The drunken patrons seem amused and we are quickly aware of an atmosphere filled with trailer trash.

The next morning, Luli hears a noise downstairs and sees a stranger sitting at the kitchen table. She points the useful pistol gift at the guy who explains that the door was open, so he just let himself in. Mom walks in and seems to know the intruder and they up and leave together in his Cadillac convertible. Luli's dad asks his daughter where her mother is, and she tells him that she took off with a man in a big car. Her father sighs, and now he also leaves.

Luli is alone in the house watching television and notices an ad promoting the qualities of Las Vegas. She grabs a few things and walks along a road and gets picked up by a guy named Ed in a pick up truck wearing a cowboy hat. They travel for a while, until an argument results in Luli getting out and waking to a field for a nap. When she awakens, a woman is relieving herself at the side of the road. Glenda picks her up and they end up robbing a store.

The pair wind up Glenda's friends house and by strange coincidence, Ed is there, serving drinks. Luli goes with him to a pool hall where a man assaults her in the ladies room; not to worry, Ed to the rescue. Romeo and Juliet; or better yet, Bonnie and Clyde stop at a motel and argue. Ed chases Luli into a field and afterwords, she is tied to a bed while being told that they were meant to be together. The owner of the cabin (Alec Baldwin) shows up and tells Ed he has to leave soon.

Glenda reappears and has a confrontation with Ed concerning Luli. There is no happily ever after in Hick, which takes an interesting idea but meanders along with a bunch of low lifes with no clear direction. Chloe Grace Moretz is terrific, as she narrates throughout, much like Sissy Spacek in Badlands. The soundtrack is also good, featuring music from Bob Dylan and Patsy Cline.

I have great expectations in the future for Miss Moretz, but here her talent is wasted.