Gas Food Lodging

Gas Food Lodging
Gas Food Lodging theatrical poster
Directed by	Allison Anders
Produced by	William Ewart Daniel Hassid Seth Willenson
Written by	Richard Peck (novel) Allison Anders
Starring	Brooke Adams Ione Skye Fairuza Balk
Music by	J. Mascis
Cinematography	Dean Lent
Edited by	Tracy Granger
Distributed by	Cineville
Release dates	July 10, 1992 (1992-07-10)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish
Box office	$1,342,613 Budget = $1.3 million

Gas Food Lodging is a 1992 movie directed by Allison Anders about a waitress trying to find romance while raising two daughters in a trailer-park. It stars Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, and Fairuza Balk. The film was adapted from the young adult novel Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck. The title of the film is derived from road signs on American interstate highways directing travelers to those respective service establishments near highway exits.

The film was produced by Cineville and entered into the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.^[1] Fairuza Balk won the 1993 Independent Spirit Award for best female lead for her role in this movie.

Plot

Nora, (Brooke Adams) a waitress with two teenage daughters, struggles to raise them in a trailer park as a single parent after her husband abandons the family. After repeatedly skipping school to go on dates, Trudi (Ione Skye) quits school and gets a job as a waitress alongside her mother. Meanwhile, young Shade (Fairuza Balk) spends most of her time watching the movies of Mexican film star Elvia Rivero (Nina Belanger) and dreams of finding a new boyfriend for her mother.

After being dumped by the boy she was seeing, Trudi meets Dank (Robert Knepper), a British petrologist, at the restaurant where she's working. They eventually sleep together, and she tells him that her promiscuity is caused by the fact that she lost her virginity in a gang rape perpetuated by local boys she knew. Returning home the following night, her mother informs her that she has one month to find a new home.

Shade tries to seduce Darius, a boy she has a crush on, by dressing up in a wig and costume at the suggestion of her sister. After her seduction attempt fails, she runs into Javier (Jacob Vargas), the local projectionist, who teases her over her outfit before giving her a ride home on his bike. Afterwards she sets her mother up with Raymond, a man she found outside the bar, who works as a gravedigger, on a date that goes horribly wrong.

Trudi discovers she is pregnant with Dank's child, but when he fails to turn up, she decides to go to Dallas and give up her child rather than have an abortion. While Trudi is away, Nora begins an affair with Hamlet Humphrey (David Lansbury), a man who installs satellite dishes, and the girls' biological father, John (James Brolin), reappears.

Shade falls in love with Javier and tries to reconnect with her father. Initially disturbed by Hamlet Humphrey, she warms to him after he reveals that he is familiar with the movies of Elvia Rivero and compares Nora to her.

Shade goes up to Dallas with her mother to be there for the birth of Trudi's baby. After giving birth to a daughter, Trudi tells Shade that she'll be staying in Dallas. On their way home Shade spots a sign advertising day-glo rocks like the one Dank gave her sister. She goes to confront Dank but instead learns that he was killed in an accident while looking for rocks. Walking home, Shade realizes that Dank always loved Trudi and vows to eventually tell her the truth of what happened.

Cast

• Brooke Adams... Nora
• Ione Skye... Trudi
• Fairuza Balk... Shade
• James Brolin... John Evans
• Robert Knepper... Dank
• Donovan Leitch... Darius
• Chris Mulkey... Raymond

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Gas, Food, Lodging was released by Elektra Records containing 28 tracks. J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr contributed many of the tracks and also made a cameo in the film.

Track listing

1. Untitled - J. Mascis
2. Untitled - J. Mascis
3. Untitled - J. Mascis
4. Untitled - J. Mascis
5. Untitled - J. Mascis
6. Untitled - J. Mascis
7. Untitled - J. Mascis
8. Untitled - J. Mascis
9. Flying Clouds [instrumental] - Barry Adamson, J. Mascis
10. Sideways - J. Mascis
11. Soliloquy - Barry Adamson
12. Odio-Amor, Odio-Amor - Barry Adamson
13. Shade - Barry Adamson
14. Insight - Antagonist
15. Maria - Green, Mitch Experience, Carlos Adley
16. Laverdad des Nuda - Barry Adamson
17. Thunder - Renegade Soundwave
18. Lament - Cave, Nick & The Bad Seeds
19. Women Respond to Bass - Renegade Soundwave
20. Trudi's Confession - Barry Adamson
21. Magic - Louise Tollson
22. Cloud Chamber - Easy
23. We Call It Rock - Velvet Monkeys
24. Los Votos Segradas - Barry Adamson
25. Love - Victoria Williams
26. Sun Before the Dawn [instrumental] - Crime & The City Solution
27. Untitled - Boyd Rice
28. Untitled (Reprise) - J. Mascis

References

External links

• Gas Food Lodging at the Internet Movie Database
• Gas Food Lodging at Rotten Tomatoes