Hick

Plot synopsis:
The movie starts off in a small town in Nebraska. Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz) sits on the steps of her school, drawing (she is obviously something of a loner with few, if no, friends). Her father, an alcoholic, drives up to the school and crashes into a play structure.The scene cuts to a bar, where Luli's 13th birthday party is taking place. She is surrounded by adults who are more interested in drinking than her birthday - one of her presents is a revolver (a Colt 45). At the end of the "party", Luli is left with her mother, Tammy (Juliette Lewis), and drunk father, Nick (Anson Mount). Nick leaves for his car, but gets out when Tammy yells that he can't go anywhere in his current condition. He grabs Luli, telling her to get in the car, and Tammy grabs Luli's other arm, apologizing. Luli is rescued by the bartender, who drives her home with Luli clutching the case with her pistol in it.The next morning, Luli practices holding her gun, aiming it at her reflection in a mirror. She hears a noise in her kitchen and approaches it with her 45 ready. She sees Lux (Bob Stephenson), an investment worker, filling out paperwork. Tammy arrives, sends Luli into a different room, and leaves in a car with Lux, suitcases packed, as Luli watches. When Nick later asks where Tammy is, Luli just says she left with Lux.Luli is painting her toenails when she sees an advertisement for Las Vegas on tv. She turns it off but starts drawing a path from her town to Vegas on a map. She makes a list of pros and cons that has "might die" on the cons side. She stuffs the map, her revolver, and some clothes in her bag and leaves the house.She is picked up on the side of the road by Eddie (Eddie Redmayne). She tells him about Vegas, then says her dad left her and her mom has died. He agrees to drive her, and they get along fine until he tells her what she's wearing makes her look like a "hooker"; she insults his limp, causing him to pull over and threaten to hurt her. Luli gets out of his truck, and he drives away.Sleeping in a ditch near the road, Luli is woken up by Glenda (Blake Lively), who's pulled over to relieve herself. Once again, Luli lies about why she's out by the road, saying that she got in a fight with someone who loved her. She asks for a ride, and Glenda eventually gives in. Luli tries a drug that Glenda hands her and hallucinates, after she recovers they pull over at a run-down gas station. Glenda has Luli walk into the station's shop, ask the cashier for gum, then fall onto the floor, pretending to go into spasms. When the cashier leans over Luli, he falls to the ground as well, unconscious. Glenda enters the store, steals from the cash register then leaves quickly with Luli when she sees the cashier on the floor. Luli is against leaving the cashier there, and persuades Glenda to call an ambulance. Later, she asks Glenda for some more of the drug, but Glenda refuses.Their next stop is a bowling alley, where Glenda is clearly a regular at the bar. She sends Luli out to the car to get the large stuffed bunny she keeps in the back seat for a boy in the bowling alley whom Glenda calls Angel (important later); Luli is startled when she sees Eddie standing in front of the car. Wary, Luli asks if he's stalking her. He explains that two people both heading west are bound to cross paths, and says that they got off on the wrong foot. At night, Luli is awoken by the sound of Glenda crying. The next morning, Glenda asks Luli to tell her the truth about where she came from, but Luli insists she isn't lying.Glenda takes them to a house belonging to Lloyd, Glenda's husband, who welcomes Luli. Inside, Luli again sees Eddie. She privately tells Glenda that Eddie is the guy who's following her, but Glenda instead says that she's the one he's actually following. Lloyd, oblivious, introduces the girls to Eddie. Lloyd spots a bottle of soda (Squirt) and yells at Eddie (who tends to the bar inside Lloyd's house) for "skimping on the 7-Up", then makes him apologize to Glenda, who tears up but hides that fact from Lloyd.Luli later talks to Eddie, apologizing for insulting him in his truck. She goes into town with him, but he makes her stay in his truck while he plays pool. Tired of waiting, she interrupts his game, causing him to lose right after he doubled his stakes. Eddie's opponent offers him the chance to recoup his losses, but since Eddie has nothing left, he uses Luli as his wager. Luli, who's left to go to the bathroom, is assaulted by the man, who keeps trying to kiss her until Eddie interrupts. He beats the man and smashes a sink on his head, presumably killing him) as Luli watches in horror. Afterward, Luli yells at Eddie for trying to sell her off, while he insists he didn't see the man go into the bathroom.After another brief stop (it is now night time), Eddie drives Luli to a motel, telling her that Glenda is there waiting for her, but Glenda is nowhere to be found when they reach the place. Luli demands to know when Glenda "called" Eddie. He tells her that Glenda told him to take Luli off her hands, as she could no longer handle her now that she's with Lloyd. She tries to leave for some air but he stops her, asking if she thinks that Glenda really loves Lloyd.Telling Eddie that she doesn't know, Luli goes outside to use the payphone. She doesn't have any quarters, however, and a boy named Clement offers to give her some if she plays a category game with him. She has fun until Eddie enters and turns over the game table, and she is forced to drag him away. Driving once again, Eddie asks if she thinks she and he deserve each other, to which she asks him to pull over and tells him she could never fall in love with a cripple who's going nowhere. He pulls over and asks her to please stay, but she gets out of the truck and starts walking away. However, he gets out too and starts following her, and chases her into the woods when she tries to run away. The camera doesn't show what happens next, it pans over the forest and Luli (narration) starts reciting letters and categories, although she sounds scared and on the verge of crying.The scene cuts to Luli tied up, arms and legs, to a bed, with her hair black and cut short. She wakes up and looks around at her surroundings (a one-room cabin somewhere in the forest). Eddie enters with flowers, asking if she likes her new hair. He apologizes for whatever happened that we didn't see the night before (but the audience can definitely assume), and tells her that he thinks she's like an "angel" that's been put on earth to save him. He unties her and tells her that he won't tie her up again, that is, until he leaves the cabin again.Enter Beau (Alec Baldwin), the man who's loaning Eddie the cabin, who's come to talk to Eddie about the cabin. Luli asks him a question about a pamphlet in the room, but using her eyes to silently plead with him, desperate for him to notice something's wrong. Behind Beau, Eddie grabs a knife off the dresser and hides it behind his back. However, Beau notices nothing and leaves. After he does, Eddie asks if Luli was "trying to sell him off" by asking Beau about the pamphlet. Crying, he tells Luli that he trusts her, ties her up again, and leaves.Luli wakes up to see Glenda sitting in front of her, crying. Glenda tells Luli that Eddie once did the same thing to her, that's how she knows him, and the child at the bowling alley is hers and Eddie's. Glenda ran away with the child because she was afraid of what Eddie would do to him. That's also how she knew where to find Luli (it turns out that Glenda never paid Eddie to take Luli away). Glenda unties Luli, but Eddie walks in, holding Luli's revolver.He yells at Glenda for trying to take Luli from him and leave him with nothing, walking toward her with the gun. Glenda begs Eddie to put it down, and she tries calming him down, trying to get him to lower the gun. Eddie protests that it isn't even loaded, but in demonstrating that fact, he accidentally shoots Glenda in the chest. He realizes what he just did and drops the gun, backs away, shocked, and starts gathering things hurriedly. He tells Luli that they've got to go. When he turns around, Luli shoots him, crying and saying she's sorry. She gets up and walks toward the door, then collapses.Luli wakes up in Beau's house. She doesn't trust him until he explains that he found her in the cabin, and arranged things to look like Glenda and Eddie shot each other out of their love for each other, and that Luli was never there (his experience in the military explains his knowledge of crime scenes, apparently). He tells Luli that if she doesn't want to return home to Nebraska, he has a sister in LA that would love to "adopt" her and care for her as a daughter. Luli turns him down, however, and he gives her a ride to the bus station.At the bus station, Luli uses a payphone to call home. Tammy picks up, expressing her relief that Luli is alive. However, she quickly goes on to talk about how excited she is that she sold the house to Lux, who is working on turning the property into a Wal-Mart. Upset, Luli hangs up and boards the bus to Nebraska.On the bus, Luli flips through her sketchbook. On a page containing the drawing of the house in the hills, there is now a phone number, an address, and a note from Beau reading "in case you change your mind". Luli uses the "seizure" trick Glenda taught her to convince the bus driver to stop the bus.She then runs back to the station and boards the next bus to Los Angeles.

Tags: violence, murder, sadist, flashback

Review:
Having truly enjoyed the book, I was able to ignore the horrid reviews I'd read and decided I'd go for it anyway.I'll say this: if it weren't for Chloe Moretz and Eddie Redmayne, this film would truly have been a flop.
Characters that had given reasonably substantial meaning to Luli's depicted life on the road, such as Clement, Beau, even Lloyd, had no more than 2-3 minutes screen time apiece, and many of them were given almost no depth whatsoever.Chloe did a fantastic job of acting, as usual.
The excellent Chloe Grace Moretz plays Luli, a Nebraska teen who decides to head to the bright lights of Las Vegas leaving behind her drunk of a father and a mother who has run off with another man, sadly things don't go to plan when she hitches a ride with Glenda (Blake Lively)The story and performances are all very good, but yet again the stand out is Chloe, her performances in this and other films such as Kick Ass and Let Me In are astonishing for such a young actress (she's barely 15 now!)The movie is gritty as Luli is exposed to the dark under belly of life, drugs, drunks, low life's out to use (and abuse) her.Chloe is well supported by a good cast, Juliette Lewis, Blake Lively and a cameo from Alec Baldwin and I was astonished at the films poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 5% fresh, critics eh!?A mature adult drama well worth a look..
Hick, or Luli, the girl is not just the main character but she is also the personification of this story to be, girl to be, to find her own answers and life while passing through all the changes of her age and without any base but two very problematic older friends she met.
She has this chance repeatedly but she knows she has to move forward, no matter what, it's her only way out.Chloë Grace Moretz, Eddie Redmayne and Blake Lively hold the story with an intense acting, strong rhythm and gradual tension, until the outcomes.
Eddie Redmayne and Blake Lively worked with her in perfect connection and that allowed this movie to be so expressive in a very single story..
Without giving any spoilers away, to make you want to watch this movie, or maybe you already have seen it and your Here to write a review.whatever you are doing you should definitely watch this movie if your a high school teacher I think they should show this at high schools as I said this is very educational, and because many students don't know what's wrong like Luli here, this would really help to talk through this, and point out what she did wrong.
The Wizard of Oz featured Dorothy; Hick features Luli McMullen, a 13-year old Nebraska girl who trades the boredom of her Midwestern town and tortured parents lost in alcohol for excitement along the road to Las Vegas, where she hopes to find a sugar-daddy.
Based on the best-selling novel by Andrea Portes, who also wrote the film's script, Hick is a courageous statement about the power of will; a reminder that very young girls can be daring and sensual but also thoughtful and ultimately wise.The film begins with a bang.
As for me, part of me felt like I kept getting slapped in the face, part of me felt like I kept falling in love with Eddie Redmayne, part of me felt like I was super-uncomfortable but was dying to see what was going to happen next and a really big part of me couldn't believe how good of an actress Chloe Moretz is, at only 13 or 14 or whatever.I don't think I've ever seen a girl that age be that good, yes, TRUE GRIT included.
Chloe Moretz in HICK makes that girl from TRUE GRIT look like a one-note wonder.
I love this film because it was like nothing I'd ever seen before but I really felt like it was happening, thanks to the amazing acting of everyone but especially Chloe Moretz.I just read that this film is coming out in theaters and I'm extremely excited because I can't wait to see it again.
I love Chloe and probably only made it to 1 hour because she was interesting to watch, but again, nothing interesting happened.Eddie Redmayne is a great actor but even he couldn't save this limp "story".
With regards to that every actor turns in an outstanding performance.The one frustration is that since this is an ensemble/episodic movie some of the supporting roles are not as juicy as one might like, but that just serves to highlight the Moretz lead, which is impressive.I really enjoyed the episodic narrative and they way the scenic rural landscape is a backdrop to a far from picture perfect life.Finally, Ray McKinnon is in a scene that is really up there with the Hopper/Walken scene in True Romance for its combination of tension and humor.
The supporting cast of Blake Lively, Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin and others do a tremendous job as well.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5* - This score would have been higher if I felt that the movie had some clear direction, but I was somewhat lost at times.
Hick is a good film, that is, if you like indie/rebel movies.
'Hick' had a lot going for it but the superb acting by the entire cast is unquestionably the major selling point that made 'Hick' one of the best movies so far of 2012.Newcomer (at least for me) Eddie Redmayne was tremendous as a believable low-life with no sense of direction.
Chloe Grace Moretz is Luli, a thirteen year old girl who is at a bar with her mother for her birthday.
She starts off hiking, and soon gets picked up by a seemingly nice young man.Hick is a road-movie and a coming of age story which offers a nice ride.
I had relatively low expectations for this film - the negative reviews were not promising, but it features two well known actors whose other movies I liked, so I decided to give it a shot.
Therefore, I would recommend everyone to watch the film solely for his acting.Now the downside to this movie was the story, which had so much potential.
More things could have happened which would make this film richer but the potential was unfortunately never exploited.I notice that most people complained about the sexual undertones of the story and the fact that such a young actress plays a role where she is a target to predators.
Such a good and entertaining drama, is Hick, but of course what makes it entertaining is great little actress, Chloe Moretz, who takes on a braver, role, before that of something, like The Equalizer.
At it's start, again, we see a kind of stereotypical type to Moretz's role, as a friendless schoolkid who's just turned lucky thirteen, where her Mum (Lewis) splits, seeing a much better offer with a much older ordinary looking guy, as she's left with good for nothing father, so she splits, meeting a few different characters, on her travels, and with her sexual prowness, raises a few eye lids.
I think the supporting roles could have used better acting, to add to the realism, which would have added more invitations to interpretation.When I heard that this movie was rated R for disturbing content involving a teen, drugs, alcohol, violence, I was worried that I was going to be shaken the wrong way and almost didn't watch.
With her in a picture it's a win-win for all that is involved even if it's just a viewer.Eddie Redmayne - I don't know what it is about this guy but he's a true scene stealer, He has a wonderful ability to bring life into his characters and an element of realism that is far superior then most actors we see today.
The rest of the cast although good were pretty much just filler and could have been pulled off by most actors today.Anyway if you like character studies and the struggles of youth then you'll enjoy this movie.
This movie easily scores a 10 because of the amaing acting from all of the cast especially from Chloe Moretz and Eddie Redmayne.
However, there's plenty of things to be bothered about "Hick".Coming from a strange family, almost an broken home, the 13 year-old Luli McMullen (Chloë Grace Moretz) decides to leave her home in Nebraska and hitchhike all the way to Las Vegas just to see what's going on in the apparently happy place, the complete opposite of her current state.
On the way, she meets with a wannabe cowboy named Eddie (Eddie Redmayne, the best thing in the movie), they'll keep meeting each other throughout the film; Glenda (Blake Lively) of whom they'll share some load of problems and develop a certain bond between them; and some other characters (played by Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin and others) that we think they'll have some deep importance in the story but they're just mere cameos or of very small influence in the plot."Hick" could be a good story about the process of growing up, the difficulties faced by a child while going through the adolescence, and in this case under extreme and harsh circumstances.
A gritty and hard nosed coming of age story, this great little film has Hit Girl (Moretz) branching out into new territory, namely, something meaningful.
The basic setting has a lot of potential and I am sure the book is great, but in the movie the story just goes very fast new characters are introduced very fast and relations between characters are created in an instant without giving them time to develop.Due to a good soundtrack and performance by Chloë Grace Moretz Hick still managed to focus my attention till the end featuring several minor plot twists.I would recommend this movie only to the real Chloë Grace Moretz fans who want to see all of her works..
I was expecting some happy, feel good type of movie.If that's what you're expecting as well then forget about it.This movie (At times) was disturbing & tough to watch.I was thinking about turning it off at the beginning (For some reason I just could not get into it) but I stuck around.In some ways, I'm glad I stuck around & in some ways, I wish I would've just turned it off when I was going to.I'm glad I stuck around to see how it turned out in the end especially after reading it was based on a true story.I wish I would've turned it off when I was going to because some scenes were disturbing & tough to watch especially knowing it was based on a true story.Hick is a movie that I'd only watch once.Not only because of how real it was but because it's a movie worth watching once but not more than once.
I can enthuse about delightfully pretty Chloë Grace Moretz AND at the same time tell you the kid can act, she is one day gonna be a big star OKAY she already is, I've just seen none of her other stuff, but boy, am I hooked, reeled in, swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker, yeah baby!By some coincidence, as luck would have it, I'm watching Billie Piper in the British TV series SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL and this little Chloë, she looks like the kid sister of that one, especially in the facial close-up scene's in Eddie's truck.And can Chloë Grace act!
Chloe Grace Moretz gave one of her best performances so far in this film!
Hick, a low budget 2001 indie film where the young female protagonist, Chloë Grace Moretzone, gives a performance worthy of a dozen actors.
It's not often the world gets to see young actresses really make their mark in the film business, there's really only a handful in the past few years, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Abigail Breslin and the cream of the crop of them all, Chloe Grace Moretz.
Largely thanks to her breakout role as Hit-Girl, she is pretty much a household name and rightly so, and with her role in Hick she can add another stellar performance to her belt.The film itself has a lot of problems, the script isn't that strong and the supporting characters are somewhat wasted, but for a first time screenwriter it's a damn good effort.
Anything that's wrong with the movie is made up for by all of the fantastic performances from everyone, Juliette Lewis is great as the white trash mother, Eddie Redmayne is funny and terrifying as the drifter and Blake Lively is pretty good in her small role, I would have loved to know more about her character but oh we'll, and of course Miss Moretz is amazing.
Some people disagree with the fact that Chloe has really only done adult films thus far, but I think it goes to show what a mature actress she is that she can do these roles and still stay a regular teen.The main problem I had was the lack of memorable soundtrack, it would have benefited from some classic country tunes to accompany a lot of the scenes, I noticed quite often that there was hardly any music and it took away from the overall greatness of the film.All in all it's an enjoyable little film, rent it and just enjoy the good and ignore the bad.
HickThe best thing about being a 13-year-old runaway is that your dismembered body parts get to visit every region of the country.Fortunately, the young female hitchhiker in this drama is armed.For her 13th birthday, Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz) is given a handgun, which she then brings along with her when she flees her alcoholic parents (Juliette Lewis, Anson Mount).On the road, Luli encounters Eddie (Eddie Redmayne), who promises to take her from Nebraska to Las Vegas.But when Eddie goes off the deep-end, Luli trades him in for a drug-addled con-woman, Glenda (Blake Lively), who teaches her how to survive on her own.Eventually Eddie catches up and becomes Luli's new guardian, when Glenda sells her out.With dreadful performances and a sleazy storyline that boarders on pedophilia, Hick is a road trip best avoided.Besides, everyone already knows runaway hicks only hitch rides on turnip trucks.
The only reason some people may enjoy Hick is because they're Chloe Moretz and Blake Lively fans or they love movies based upon brutal, harsh & abusive lives of women.
On the whole, hick maybe a critical and commercial disappointment, but for many years people will remember as Chloe Grace Moretz adult rape movie.
The story is good, Chloe Moretz makes a regular job because sometimes she doesn't act according the situation and you may lose interest in the plot but definitely she makes the best performance in the movie.
In Blake Lively's case I expected more about her because she's a good actress but in this movie she loses her role.
I hope that Moretz make a better performance in Carrie because she has a brilliant future in acting career and roles like this one helps her to do better jobs in upcoming movies also she's BEAUTIFUL..
Synopsis; girl has what she thinks is a bad life, runs away, to more crazy and worse life...the big issue is the way the story and directing go about it...it's like they're trying to pull off some cult classic feel like pulp fiction, or kill bill....but this never gets it right...which is horrible for all the actors/tresses because every time they have to convey an emotion or look, they get it right.
In Hick Chloe Moretz plays Luli McMullen, a 13-year-old girl who gets into trouble after she runs away from her alcoholic parents and decides to go to Las Vegas.
In this road movie, Chloe Grace Moretz plays a teenager running away from her rough home life believing she's destined for a better life.
In her most underrated performance, Chloe Grace Moretz is fantastic as the main character, and the rest of the cast are surprisingly good as well.
Unfortunately, he, Chloe Grace Moretz,, Eddie Redmayne and all the others are stuck with a script which doesn't deserve any of them.Hick is a totally pointless film if there ever was one.
By no means spectacular, oh no, but for a reason I can't explain I actually quite enjoyed Hick, it was engaging and provocative and hit all the right notes in the right way.The character Luli (what a name!) played by the sublimely talented Chloe Grace Moretz is the type of character, and the type of person in real life that I seriously detest, what do these young girls expect, I'm running away from home because I want to go to Vegas, but to get there I need to accept lifts off strangers, snort cocaine, rob places, and be privy to murders..., what!?
Through myriad events she keeps bumping into him and this sets the story off.Chloe Grace Moretz plays the lead and never have you seen a teen-aged girl so tantalizing.
That way 20 minutes of movie goes by in 5 minutes and you don't miss anything!Chloë Grace Moretz, about 13 or 14 during filming, plays just turning 13 Luli McMullen.
having not read the book before watching the movie I had no idea what to expect, however I was not let downboth Eddie and Chloe I will admit held the whole performance and those complaining about some scenes ( for those who have seen it understand) she was 14 when the movie came out prob less when filming it I mean its get an older actor or get the age appropriate actress!!
I thought, hey, I've always been a bit intrigued by the stars of this movie (i.e. Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne) so why not check it out?