LOVE LIES BLEEDING

Set in New Mexico, 1989 this story follows Lou (Kristen Stewart) a manager at a local gym who meets and falls in love with Jackie (Katy O'Brian), a drifter who's passing through town on her way to a body building competition in Las Vegas. Once the couple hit it off, Jackie intends to stay awhile since she's got a few weeks to go before the competition. She (unknowingly) gets a job at a gun range owned by Lou's estranged father Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), who is mixed up in other various activities as an additional source of income. Thrown in as a secondary story is Lou's sister Beth (Jena Malone) who gets beat on by her husband JJ (Dave Franco) who she just can't seem to leave. JJ and Lou loathe each other and Lou only stays around to protect her sister, otherwise, she'd be as free to hit the open road as Jackie is. The story plays well enough, engaging and entertaining, although there's a part or two that had me raise my eyebrows but outside of that, this was a solid little film. Great performances by the main trio of Stewart, O'Brian, and Harris with Harris leading the way with his incredibly intimidating demeanor even though at times, he has very little dialogue. Definitely one of his better roles and maybe his best turn yet as a villain. This film didn't receive a huge marketing push but you could do a lot worse than this. Maybe not worth theater prices but worth a viewing at some point in the future. 6.5/10