In Miles Away, director/writer/star Jackie Quinones plays Jessica, a young woman working as a rideshare driver in L.A. while trying to break into entertainment. She spends her days with demanding passengers, while being inundated with urgent texts and calls from from her narcissistic mother and her drug addicted, suicidal sister. Her mother wants her to pursue a stable career, while her sister laments their late father, who died of an overdose.
We ride along for a full day as Jess grinds through her trips and tries to be social with her customers. Some are more gregarious than others. The people she drives represent an amusing cross-section of L.A. culture. She has some conversations that are demeaning and awful, but she also gets uplifting encouragement and coaching from sympathetic passengers. One of her better moments comes as she’s grooving through L.A., enjoying music, when she gets a ride request from Laurel (Salina EsTitties), a drag queen. Laurel shows the right amount of compassion mixed with tough love in her advice. Who wouldn’t appreciate life coach cheerleading from a fierce drag performer? Jess doesn’t mind the driving, though she is filled with anxiety about her stalled career, and she flinches whenever the text or call alert chimes from her phone, knowing it will be her mother or sister.
Quinones scored a couple of prize cameos in the film, one from always enchanting Luis Guzmán as an irritated yoga devotee, and the other from Andre Royo who plays Jess’ ex-boyfriend George who she randomly picks up as a fare. It turns out that he has stopped writing and gone into real estate and made a fortune flipping houses. Royo and Guzman are both named as executive producers on the film.
“…a young woman working as a rideshare driver in L.A. while trying to break into entertainment.”
Miles Away skips the usual three-act structure to present a day in the life of a woman struggling to achieve her dreams in cold, dispassionate Hollywood. The production quality is high in the cinematography and sound, as well as editing that keeps the pace lively.
This is Quinones’ feature directorial debut, but she has appeared in several indie projects, such as The Low End Theory.The film is a solid effort, but it brings nothing new to the genre of movies inspired by the difficulties of people surviving while hoping to break into the business. An original story, not set in L.A., would be refreshing to showcase these talents. The trap they invariably fall into is the insistence that the character (and presumably the actor performing) is being denied the career they deserve. Add to this the unearned belief that if they persevere, they will make it one day because of fate, determination, and work ethic. Still, we never see Jessica working toward Hollywood. She never talks to an agent, nor goes for an audition.
The fact is, and has always been, that most people don’t make it, and that has almost nothing to do with talent or drive. It’s about timing and relationships. It’s been said that “there are no waiters or grocery clerks in L.A.” A depressingly high number of people who are great actors, directors, writers, etc, haven’t made it. I know an extraordinary character actor who is just getting noticed after decades in the business at age 63 because of a breakthrough performance at the right time. Talent can get you invited to the party, but opportunities are driven by finances and luck.
Quinones’s authentic, powerful performance throughout Miles Away brings us into the precarious life of a driver who dreams of a Hollywood career.
Learn more at the official Miles Away website.
"…authentic, powerful..."
