Detours (2016)

Detours: Directed by Robert McCaskill. With Tara Westwood, Carlo Fiorletta, Paul Sorvino, Richard Kind. A newly single New Yorker must re-locate to Florida; she drives south with her widowed dad and her mom’s ashes in a coffee can.

“This movie has whatu0026#39;s needed to be a funny and touching movie, without veering into Hallmark card territory. Director McKaskell draws a great performance out of Carlo Fiorletta, who morphs, on screen, from a sad sack widower to a maybe-sexy single older man. Actor Tara Westwood handles the funny stuff from the start, from the humiliation of being the last to find out sheu0026#39;s married to a closeted gay man, to realizing that, indeed, her father has needs just as much as she does.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWho would have thought? The nerve!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cinematography must have been challenging, as shooting a road picture, realistically, always is. Yet the shots are relentlessly impressive – one lovely beach scene followed by Spanish moss followed by the quiet intensity of the boat scene near the end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnlike writer Mara Lesemannu0026#39;s first movie, Surviving Family, this movie is more focused, more tight, and so has a storyline that pulls one along. There are fewer side characters, and they serve as more clear foils to the major characters. Thatu0026#39;s really a plus – we get to know these folks well by the end of the movie. And we care about them. By the closing shot, weu0026#39;re really pulling for Dan to make that move. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo why a 9 and not a 10? Picky stuff, such as the love interest wearing his shirt the next morning, when the woman didnu0026#39;t – Iu0026#39;ve never known a guy to get up at night and pull on a t-shirt. A scene in a bar felt a little off. And still too many side characters, who seemed well- loved by the writer but could still be cut for greater intensity. But 95 plus percent of this movie was spot on, and the original music was fantastic – I would buy some of that music. The rapping night clerk? great. Phyllis Somerville plays the mechanic and we saw her in Surviving Family; here, we get a better understanding of the donu0026#39;t ask/donu0026#39;t tell mentality that lingers in the south. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall? Great movie. Would watch it again. If it comes near you, grab it.”