Review: 'Safelight' Starring Juno Temple And Evan Peters
One of the most memorable lines from the early years of “South Park” was when Cartman claimed that all independent films are about “Gay cowboys eating pudding.” While “Safelight” doesn’t have cowboys or pudding, “A bullied disabled kid and a hooker with a heart of gold take pictures of lighthouses” would be a suitable alternative if one were look for a quick line to generalize and ridicule American indie dramas.
A bland and utterly predictable melodrama desperate to hide itself as a deft character study, “Safelight” would have made for a decent timewaster on TV, perhaps on Lifetime or Country Music Television (Hey, don’t knock CMT, “Crazy Heart” was originally produced by them before it won Jeff Bridges his Oscar), but as a theatrical feature it’s sorely lacking in both narrative and execution.
Following a by the numbers “Abused and downtrodden young couple finds a modicum of happiness in a cruel world through their affection for each other” premise, “Safelight” is about the...