Sundance. Anywhere, USA.

"Any festival you go to there's going to be one film that most people don't get and just spend their time discussing why they didn't like it and question why it was ever made," writes Jason Guerrasio at Filmmaker. "Chusy (Anthony Haney-Jardine)'s Anywhere, USA has become that film at Sundance 08... but I'm in the minority. I thought it was one of the most fun viewing experiences I had there."

"Anywhere, USA revolves around three separate stories - a torn relationship, a family born of crisis, an old man's journey of self-discovery - but those brief capsules can't possibly convey the loopy energy and bizarre brilliance Haney-Jardine splashes up on screen in strong, sloppy brush strokes," writes James Rocchi at Cinematical. "And I don't use that metaphor lightly; at times, Anywhere, USA feels more like a modern art project than a film."

Robert Koehler, writing in Variety, finds it "dressed up in postmodern smarty pants, only to resolve as an excessively overlong personal project that chases its own tail. A triptych on, respectively, a trailer-park couple, a bright child and her slacker relative, and a wealthy Anglo man runs on and on, even as each elaborately written and staged part amounts to little."

"On one level, Anywhere is experimental hokum, a parade of Southern stereotypes and trailer park jokes," writes Steve Ramos at indieWIRE. "Yet, beneath the trashy humor and broad-stroke characters, Anywhere claims striking visual beauty, a standout performance and pride in its Ashville, NC locations and residents."

Posted by dwhudson at January 31, 2008 12:31 PM