Calista Flockhart as a junkie? Though Ally McBeal is one side of Flockhart, she shows many more colors in this low budget, but well made indie feature. Story and characters, though familiar, are authentic and well drawn by writer/director Paul Peditto. Horace (Christopher Peditto) is a struggling writer with a wry sense of humor and a dark poetic heart. Working as a bartendar in a transvestite nighclub, he meets Jane (Flockhart), a waif replete with black eye and bucketloads of sex appeal and charm. After hiring Jane to pose a model for a series of death scene recreations (which are hilariously effective!), Horace asks Jane to shack up with him in his cell-like transient hotel room. The two begin a rollercoaster relationship. But as they fall deeper and deeper in love, we soon learn that Jane has her own inner demons that take the two from New York's meat market district to the seedy backstreets and tacky casinos of Atlantic City, with Horace struggling to save Jane from her own self destructive habits. Flockhart and Peditto have a wonderful chemistry. The supporting characters are all drawn quickly but surely. The production values are also excellent, raising this film far above most of the low budget indie fare out there. Although flawed in some of its aspects, true romantics will find it effective and very moving.
Review of Pictures of Baby Jane Doe
