When Shade’s good, she’s very good. But when Trudi’s bad, she’s better. In a sunbleached trailer park in the New Mexico desert, a single mother (Brooke Adams) working as a truck stop waitress struggles to raise her two teenage daughters (Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk) while trying to save them from the same mistakes she made. Writer-director Allison Anders crafts an observant and entertaining small-town drama around the finely tuned lead performances. Balk won the Best Female Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards while Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis provides the memorable score.
