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Come Early Morning
Roadside Attractions


9.4

based on 16 reviews
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based on 5 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for language and some sexual situations

Starring Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Wilson, Laura Prepon, and Ray McKinnon

Come Early Morning is a beautifully rendered film about a southern woman in a small-town, rural community, a subject director Joey Lauren Adams obviously knows intimately. Fueled by a nuanced performance from Ashley Judd, this film is about life transitions, the search for love, and the burdens we carry with us. (Roadside Attractions)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Joey Lauren Adams
DIRECTED BY:	Joey Lauren Adams
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 20, 2007 Theatrical: November 10, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2006 Sundance Film Festival; Dorothy Arzner Directors Award, 2006 Women in Film Crystal Awards

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The baby-voiced costar of "Chasing Amy" proves an effortless filmmaker, turning Lucy’s journey into the awakening of a soul.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Both Adams and Judd have been let down by Hollywood. Here they have the freedom to express their uniquely Southern takes on music, faith, family and femininity. This intensely personal film may not bring either of them widespread acclaim, but it's a small triumph nonetheless.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The kind of small gem that's becoming increasingly rare in American films.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Nothing much happens on the surface, but worlds of hope, hurt and determination lie right behind the characters' eyes, waiting to be discovered.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Adams has a good camera eye and a fine feeling for the regional mores of the South, where she's from. Judd, who for a change isn't being terrorized in a thriller, is more nuanced and intense than she's ever been.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

"Chasing Amy" star Joey Lauren Adams makes a competent, tender writing and directing debut with Come Early Morning, but the film is still entirely in Judd's hands.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A simple story yet told with such conviction, delicacy and instinct for truth that it carries keen emotional power. This is the first film from actress Joey Lauren Adams, so one can only hope she has more stories inside her for she has genuine storytelling talent.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

No new narrative ground is broken, but there's a lived-in, musical feel to this tale of a fiercely independent, thoroughly screwed-up building contractor (Ashley Judd, in a pleasing return to the directness of her first significant role, in Victor Nunez's "Ruby in Paradise").

Los Angeles Times Lael Loewenstein

Falls prey to bits of psychoanalytic shorthand and narrative predictability, but it offers the rare, meaty role for an actress in her late 30s.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The plot points verge on the familiar and obvious, but Adams's work with the actors (especially Judd and among the others Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson, and Scott Wilson) is so resourceful and focused that she makes them shine.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

Artfully shot and excruciatingly honest, the movie has great intentions but can't quite overcome its outsized sense of self-importance.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

An incisive but static and occasionally confusing character study of Lucy Fowler, a disheveled, hard-drinking single woman who has a day job as a contractor and a dissolute night life.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The script is somewhat predictable and the pace is leisurely, but Ms. Judd makes Lucy's choices seem momentous, and Ms. Adams gives us several beautiful scenes.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Despite her (Judd's) efforts and those of a generally talented cast, picture just pokes along and offers nothing out of the ordinary in terms of drama, characterization or insight. Judd's presence notwithstanding, this one would be more at home on small than on big screens.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

Judd's typically lived-in performance and the authentic Arkansas locations -- cramped bars, dusty roads -- help vaguely distinguish a movie that comes on like a minor-key reprise of Judd's breakthrough "Ruby in Paradise" and every other rural indie melodrama to grace Sundance since.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

The end result is stale, clumsy, and about as compelling as an average episode of "As the World Turns."

The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it an8:
"The sins of the father," from the Book of Matthew, Lucy cites, is the lightning rod of her theological vent with her parish priest. Since daddy was a womanizer, this must be the reason why I f*** and run, Lucy rationalizes; this must be the reason I'm always drunk and single. Because of her arrested development, when Cal(Jeffrey Donovan) intervenes between Lucy and a predatory barfly, the girl with daddy issues balks at having her honor defended. She can't see that Cal is her knight and shining armour, or is he? The understated "Come Early Morning" avoids cliched characterizations. After frying frog legs, Cal asks Lucy to perform a wifely function that doesn't suit her; this same function is echoed late in the between an unhappy husband and wife. This first-time writer/director has a soft touch; she eschews big emotional payoffs that sends everyone home happy, in favor of scenes that end in disappointment and heartbreak. "Come Early Morning" seems rudderless, but in the thrilling(quietly so) final act, Lucy's character is defined and set in stone for us. We get her. We like her.

Caladonia gave it a10:
A pleasant surprise. Judd gives one of the year's best performances.

Marty gave it a10:
This is a quiet movie that is absolutely captivating. It's a simple story envisioned through Adams' confident eye. Also, great performances by Ashley Judd and Jeffrey Donovan help bring it to life. It's not a movie for everyone, but if you appreciate realistic drama, smart writing and excellent acting, this is a movie for you.

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Come Early Morning Roadside Attractions

Come Early Morning
Roadside Attractions