STUDIO: Wolfe Video | DIRECTOR: Fernando Cardoso | CAST: Sarah Stouffer, Allison McAtee, Katherine Ann McGregor, Erika Heidewald, Chelsea Rogers
RELEASE DATE: 5/3/2011 | PRICE: DVD$24.95
BONUSES: commentary, featurette, blooper
SPECS: NR | 83 min. | Drama | anamorphic widescreen | stereoRATINGS (out of 5): Movie
| Audio
Sarah Stouffer and Allison McAtee enjoys each other's company in Bloomington.
In the 2010 drama Bloomington, Sarah Stouffer and Allison McAtee, two capable and very well-cast unknown actors, play the roles of a former child TV star, now a college student, and the renegade psychology professor at her school. The two develop a romance that seems doomed from the outset.
As a GLBT movie, Bloomington automatically has a group to which it appeals, while it also will drive others away, but it’s really a a film about relationships.
The movie’s depiction of how big differences in age and experience can strain a relationship is effective and thought-provoking. Though the real meat of the story is not the romance, but the illuminating exploration of how child celebrities handle the personal and professional transition into adulthood. This is the dilemma that elevates the story, and Stouffer convincingly portrays it with a style and finesse that made me swear I’ve seen her in something else. (Unfortunately I haven’t, and neither have you — yet.)
The film does suffer from a slightly unsatisfying final half and a cliché-reliant depiction of university life. The script by first-time movie writer/director Fernando Cardoso (who’s best known as an editor of such reality TV shows as America’s Next Top Model and The Real L Word: Los Angeles) artfully exposes both protagonists’ moral failings, but this nuance prevents one from really rooting for either of them. As niche and independent films go, though, Bloomington is one with a high degree of poise and presence.
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