Review of Trust

Trust (1990)
7/10
Trusting
20 April 2016
Marketed with the promotional tagline "A slightly twisted comedy", that is not even the half of it as this Hal Hartley film focuses on an unconventional and entirely non-sexual romance that develops between a pregnant teenager and a social misfit twice her age. Both characters curiously defy the initial impressions that they give. As the teen, Adrienne Shelly seems bratty and brainless, wearing heavy makeup and disrespecting her parents, however, she gradually becomes more dowdy after her parents and her boyfriend both reject her upon learning about the pregnancy. As the social misfit, Martin Donovan (no, not the director of 'Apartment Zero'; another Martin Donovan) seems dangerous and prone to violent outbursts, but totally submissive when around his bathroom sanity obsessed father, Donovan also shows us a beating human heart beneath the anger. The film takes a bit too long to bring the two characters together (it is a full 26 minutes before their separate plots converge), but there is a lot to like in how they trust each other for different reasons; her for his sincerity and workplace integrity and him for her genuine warmth. Hartley unnecessarily complicates things with a stolen baby subplot that awkwardly pops up every now and again without offering any real perspective on how Shelley feels about her own baby to-be. In the scenes where Hartley just lets his characters interact with each other though, the film rarely skips a beat. Rebecca Nelson is also very good as the girl's mother who goes from resenting Donovan to trying to manipulate who he likes for her own advantage.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed