A working-class fable about a biker, a mermaid and three shades of blue.
Chuck says:
Jena Malone and Pablo Schreiber do exceptional work in Sabrina Doyle’s Lorelei; I just wish it were in service of a better movie. The two principals are Dolores and Wayland respectively, the former a single mom of three trying to make ends meet on poverty wages, the latter an ex-con, just released from prison after doing a 15-year stretch. Former high school sweethearts they reunite with no concrete plans of staying together, that is until Wayland gets attached to the kids and suddenly, an unshakeable bond is forged.
The film is properly gritty, the worn-down house where they live, the tattered hotel where Dolores works, the dive bar where they drink all accurate reflections of society on the fringe. However, Doyle’s sense of pacing is off, the story floundering and repetitious at times, never building the sort of urgency to make the film’s climax mean anything. This tale of dreams unrealized and the harsh reality the disenfranchised must deal with has its heart in the right place. Unfortunately, it loses its way far too often to have an impact.
2 1/2 Stars
