Personal Velocity

A chick-flick that’s just as cerebral as its author (Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur, and wife of Daniel Day Lewis), Personal Velocity has garnered much by way of critical plaudits, and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Adapted from a collection of Miller’s short stories, the three separate tales involve women who are forced into taking charge of their own lives.

Delia (Sedgwick) was once a teenage temptress, but now that she’s married with children, things have turned sour. Very sour, because her husband beats the crap out of her and the kids with apparent regularity. Greta (Posey) feels inadequate as she hasn’t quite lived up to her father’s expectations and has fidelity ‘issues’ – (i.e. she can’t keep her knickers on), and soon finds herself choosing between her ‘safe’ marriage, and her ruthless ambition.

Meanwhile, Paula (Balk) is pregnant, and a bit of an all-round fuck-up. It’s only when she picks up a hitchhiking kid, who has been badly beaten that she twigs that others may actually be worse off than she.

All three stories are told using voiceover, strong performances and naturalistic, yet minimal dialogue. The stunning use of Digital Video rather than film, reinforces a sense of naturalism, and yet Personal Velocity maintains a mesmerising dream-like quality.

Certainly, the film is very literary, and terribly restrained, but it’s more than engaging for its duration.