Review of Deidra & Laney Rob a Train (2017) by Jesse O — 22 Mar 2017

Ah to be poor. I wonder if, being in the same situation Deidra and Laney find themselves in in this movie, if I would find that the only solution to getting out of this situation is committing a series of train robberies.

The movie, while not necessarily preachy, does have a socially conscious approach to its story. Deidra, the oldest sister, basically has to take care of her younger siblings after their mother suffers a mental breakdown and is arrested.

She's also a senior in high school who has to worry about her future in college, instead of finding herself stuck in dead-end town on the road to nowhere. That's not to mention the fact that blls are piling up as well.

So she takes it upon herself to get herself and her siblings out of this situation, by planning a series of train heists that Laney, her sister (duh), helps her with. I remember saying a month or so ago, the time when I Don't Want to Live in this World Anymore (long title, I know) came out, that Netflix needed to scout out independent film festivals and pick up films similar to that.

And I don't even mean necessarily thematically, because this movie couldn't be more different than the aforementioned one, but I just mean movies with very distinct independent voices and this is definitely one of those movies.

I'm not gonna sit here and say that this is the best movie I've ever seen, because it's not, but it still offers a fairly unique voice and focus on characters, and their struggles, that aren't usually focused on in such a manner.

What I mean by that is the scope of the comedy. This isn't what I would call exactly an attempt at broad comedy, like an Adam Sandler film or something like that, but it's a little more viewer-friendly than a lot of independent comedies as well.

I don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me. But it's an attempt at making as serious as a family's struggle to stay afloat economically a little more entertaining. That's not saying that the film shies away from the harsh realities that Deidra and Laney are facing, but it doesn't treat their struggles in a heavy-handed way.

There is some sentimentality here, for sure, and the scene it takes place in will be quite obvious. This is during a particularly rough moment for Deidra, who feels that her mother would have been happier without them in their lives, and Goldie, the mother, tells her of the reason why she acted the way she did at the beginning of the movie.

Then you get a flashback as to the reason while a sad song plays in the background. Yes, the scene highlights the sacrifices Goldie has made as a single mother, but I think they try way too fucking hard to make this scene emotionally resonant.

I think the song was what did it for me. The song made the scene ineffective, at least to me. I think you could have had the same scene without the song and it would have more than it did WITH it. That's just me.

As I mentioned, the movie isn't perfect. I think it lacks consistency in terms of its comedy if I'm being honest. In fact, I can recall the funniest scene of the entire movie. It involves Goldie and Chet (Deidra and Laney's father) getting it on in jail and the cops trying to keep them apart.

That's the only scene that I can recall, that legitimately made me laugh. And that's not to say the movie is bad, because I think it makes up for it with its story and its acting. Ashleigh Murray and Rachel Crow (Deidra and Laney respectively) are both tremendous in their roles.

Rachel Crow, facially and performance-wise, reminds me of a young Alia Shawkat. I mean I don't think she's as good as Alia is, who's a tremendously underrated comedic actress, but she's still really fucking good.

Ashleigh Murray shows a great maturity in her role, in doing what needs to be done with her siblings. Sasheer Zamata, who plays the guidance counselor, to me, is the most consistently entertaining character in the film.

She's pretty great here. All in all, while the film has its flaws, I still found this to be a good movie with great acting and leads that you can relate to, even if you might not find yourself in the same situation as them.

I'd recommend it, I liked this movie quite a bit.