I Saw A Film!

Pixie Winona with disheveled hair and a little menagerie of lost animals plays a largely unloved kid called Dinky (though, I thought it was Stinky) who has a minor crush on a dullard, falls down a lot and gets no help, and finally imagines she’s the daughter of a beloved local star who promises to be returning home for a visit. Dinky has packed her bags and intends to force herself into her “mother’s” love and care, hoping that she’ll be able to leave behind the disaster that is her sad life in town. Her adopted folks having sort of given up on her are trying to have a baby.

Enter Jeff Daniels who with the famous Roxy had a baby girl, as the legend goes, the baby was left for adoption, a premature birth. The details seem to fit for Dinky (Dinky?! they call her Dinky) but as she quizzes Jeff Daniels she’s ignoring his skepticism.

It’s an odd film, and I can’t imagine the high-school like devotion of a whole goofy town for Roxy, ladies are changing their hair color, they’re buying dresses, they’re arguing about who is doing the most for Roxy. Of course we’re just waiting for the limo to pull up and a clown to get out, but instead we get nothing. Dinky drops her suitcases and runs away.

Dinky gets some attention from a high school guidance counselor, who helps her dress up, brush her hair, and such. And the dopey fellow who just about kisses her repairs some of her roof boards at the little menagerie she hangs out with. And that’s it. That’s your movie.

This is running free on Prime (usa) and the one thing that sticks out is Winona’s Dink standing up and performing a poem for the Sean Penn-looking dork in her classroom, dripping with drama and being hollered at by the teacher to stifle it. Her big brown eyes giving both intense interest and hurt puppy dog in an instant.