“Sally” should’ve been better than it was. It could’ve been better than it was. It has interesting characters, actors who know their craft and a story that was a hair away from being compelling. Nothing quite came together, though, which made this feature feel flat and forced instead of gritty and natural.
Sally is a mythical woman who is hunted by Jack (David Goldsmith), a criminal with mental problems; and Bugs (Michael Rubinstein), a young man with a different set of mental problems. When Beth (Rachael Leigh Cook), a hitchhiker with what could be slight mental problems (a pattern is forming), enters their lives, they start down the road of sex, power, crime and guns. Unfortunately, it all goes nowhere fast as the characters constantly engage in actions that only serve to isolate the viewer; sympathy is hard to feel for people you wouldn’t want to associate with in real life, and just being a misfit isn’t a redeeming quality. Unfortunately, this movie doesn’t offer much beyond that.
It’s a shame “Sally” didn’t turn out better. Cook seems to really take to her role, trying to make it stepping stone to a new type of character she can play, though she doesn’t quite pull it off. The fact that “Sally” has several plot twists doesn’t help matters any, either, as it has just as many illogical moments that make the twists meaningless.
It’s plain to see that everyone involved in this movie misfire gave it his or her best effort, but that effort wasn’t good enough. Sometimes, despite a movie’s best intentions, things don’t turn out as planned. This is one of those times, though it will be interesting to see Goldsmith’s future work. There is a spark there. It just didn’t ignite this movie, but his next one may be an inferno.
