Like something straight from a teenage girl’s tumblr or an Urban Outfitters catalogue, What Lola Wants is an equal parts road movie and passionate romance film for Generation Z. Flamboyant colors and a genuinely good Americana score give off a Tarantino-inspired aesthetic, making this innocent crime film a rolling-fun time.
Lola Franklin (Sophie Lowe) has run away from home, under the guise that she was kidnapped. Escaping from her Hollywood producer parents, her disappearance has made the headline news. Stuck in the middle of the Californian desert, she meets a charming bad boy greaser in Marlo (Beau Knapp), with duck-tailed hair and a Matthew McConaughey-drawl.
After a quick meet in a diner, exchanging winks and heavy breathing, they’re off like Bonnie and Clyde – stealing, evading authorities and living life on the run. Side road scenes lead to pick-pocketing 101, motel-stop make-outs, and impromptu convenience store stick-ups, all charged with the good fun that makes the romance heist movie such a rousing watch.
While director Rupert Glasson no doubt has an intended look in mind for the film, it’s just that the mechanics of the story seem to stall out rather than race down the open highway as its lead sinning duo do.
Yet after realizing Lola’s face from the news, Marlo decides to offload the unpredictable bag of trouble, unwilling to invite any further danger into his young life, as he is already trying to evade the grasp of his nasty firearm wielding “Mama” (Dale Dickey). A cool one million dollar reward for Lola’s safe return only heightens the drama as Marlo is caught between love and money.
Marlo wishes to wash his hands of Lola, but the two can’t help but fall ever-more in love with each other. Unfortunately, the mystery of Lola and her running away from home is given the back seat when “Mama” comes back in to play, and the reveal is far too late and diluted to keep the initial electric intrigue of it all alive.
Lola wants to be edgy, and with its intensely pop-y color grade and teen magazine looking lead actors Lowe and Knapp, those who relate to the film will most likely be found within the younger generations of movie goers.
While director Rupert Glasson no doubt has an intended look in mind for the film, it’s just that the mechanics of the story seem to stall out rather than race down the open highway as its lead sinning duo do. And while its outcome was a successful one, it’s hard to know if this is truly his own voice as a filmmaker, or if this style was highly influenced by other cinematic works.
Playing in the Zeitgeist category of the fest, and in competition with other hard-knock, coming of age films, it’s hard to say what lasting impression What Lola Wants will have past its festival run besides being a stylish re-work of a story we’ve seen many times before.
What Lola Wants is playing on June 17th at 3:05 PM during the LA Film Fest. Tickets here.
[youtube height=”360″ width=”640″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXs1Nccj638[/youtube]
