Lost On Purpose (2013) Directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms. Starring: Jane Kaczmarek, C.Thomas Howell, James Lafferty. IMDB Says ‘Our story takes place in the fertile, San Joaquin Valley. Fueled by gin and sheer determination, Elizabeth James (Ms. Liz) operates her third generation dairy farm outside the region’s domineering co-ops. To help keep the place afloat, she’s employed five renegade ranch hands.’
Simply put, Lost On Purpose is one of those indie life movies that attempts to capture life as it occurs to a host of mundane characters. The kind of movie that always seems to be released in the autumn months from the likes of Cannes Film Festival or Sundance. With that you come to expect a certain strand of conventions across these movies. You expect storylines with less of an overall ‘goal’ or objective, traditionally they simply reflect the ebbing and flowing of real life. You expect fairly rough and raw, unpronounced acting and actors. A must is some simple, but astoundingly beautiful sights as far as cinematography goes. As far as our expectations for Lost on Purpose go, the film basically fulfilled them.
Five young men in their late 20’s, early 30’s are maintaining an old dairy farm from 3 generations past. They work under the jaded, yet wise gaze of Elizabeth James (Jane Kaczmarek). As life goes on, the struggle to keep the farm alive becomes only more difficult. The equipment is old and outdated, while crusty businessman Delbert Ferguson, who owns the regional competition, seeks to squeeze and cheat his way to a milk monopoly. As the farm inches to its inevitable closure, we’re told the personal stories of Rooker, Darrell, Wade, Leslie and Jackie who all have their own problems to deal with.
The film relies heavily on the concept of untraditional family. The five boys see each other like brothers, while Ms.Liz plays the role of the curmudgeonly yet loving mother. The main storyline is centred around the farm and its gradual deterioration regarding its equipment, and tiny staff. Delbert at first makes several reasonable offers to absorb the farm, help renovate it, modernise it and such. That would never work because Liz’s character is all about pride, stubbornness and grit. Jane Kaczamarek does a fantastic job of fleshing out this cranky old bull of a woman, shades of her character Lois from Malcolm in the Middle can also be seen, in that regard. The boys are featured more prominently but their stories are mainly a kind of filler, in contrast to the main emotional connection found in the farm’s imminent closure.
Overall the writing is fine and the story is interesting enough, yet something seems a little out of place. There were moments that weren’t milked for drama, but I suppose that’s never the intention of an indie film. Perhaps it’s the odd pacing and gaps in the timeline. One plot-point that seemed particularly faulty was Rooker’s problem. Over a year had passed and he’s still incredibly sore about seeing his ex-girlfriend? That’s not quite as troubling as an MMA fighter attempting to kick your teeth down your throat, or the temptation to sellout your musical talent to a corporate record label. On the subject of music the score was rather good, full of earthy folk/indie tracks that captured the agricultural tone to a tee.
Lost On Purpose is a solid indie drama if not a little forgettable. The pieces and the framework are all there, but the emotional engagement wasn’t. At least not for the whole cast of characters, only one or two. The whole tone was bitter-sweet, but it effectively mirrored how life goes sometimes, no matter how hard you try to turn the tide. If there was a little more catharsis or revelation at the end, there’d be more of an inclination to be kind to Lost On Purpose. As it stands above average seems a reasonable verdict.