REVIEW: Sabrina Carpenter Shines in “The Short History of the Long Road”
The Short History of the Long Road follows teenage, Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) as she navigates her way through some tough times. The first 20 minutes of the film focuses on Nola’s relationship with her father, Clint (Steven Ogg). The two spend their days traveling the open road with no real destination in sight. When Nola’s life is thrown upside down, she finds herself alone on the open road searching for answers including what happened to her Mom.
As of coming of age film, the story could have been grittier and could have really delved into topics like teenage homelessness and found families, but it didn’t. Instead, it focused solely on Nola’s journey to find her Mom. Which also could have been a really interesting storyline, but it lacked emotion. Besides for one scene where we get to see Nola break down, the character doesn’t show much in the way of emotion. One could assume that some of the choices she made were emotionally driven, but it is not clear if that was the case.
Carpenter takes the lead in this film and does well bringing to life Nola. As her first lead role, Carpenter stepped out behind the glam of Hollywood to bring to life this character. From her looks to her portrayal of the character, fans will have no problem separating Carpenter from Nola. As I noted earlier, it would have been nice to see Carpenter delve into some of the other topics that the film touches on, but she did well with what she had to work with. I particularly enjoyed her scenes with Danny Trejo. As mechanic, Miguel, I would have liked to have seen Nola and Miguel’s relationship explored more. These two could have really brought this story to life if more had been done with their relationship.
The Short History of the Long Road has a stop and start pacing to it that won’t be for everyone. However, if you do intend to watch the film, make sure you are paying attention. The film can be pretty confusing if you are not paying attention. And, though the film did not explore everything I wanted it to, it did leave me with one conclusion. Sabrina Carpenter has a big career ahead of her in the film industry.
Grade: C