PERSONAL VELOCITY

A triptych of three tales linked together by the thinnest of plot threads, Personal Velocity comes across as a group of short stories brought to screen. And like any short story anthology, some stories simply work better than others.

The first tale involves Kyra Sedgwick as a mother of three who has an abusive husband whom she has tolerated (and loved) since they were teens. After some particularly brutal abuse, she takes off with the kids to start a new life from nothing. Kyra's character, it is pointed out by the narrator (who flavors the story with tidbits about the characters), used to be a tramp. Ironically, it is her experience in wielding power over men (illustrated in a scene with the oily Leo Fitzpatrick, of Kids fame) that she begins to regain the confidence that was beaten out of her.

The middle tale is much lighter, with the always delightful Parker Posey playing a lowly cookbook editor that suddenly gets a big break when the opportunity to work with a hotshot young author falls in her lap. As her status skyrockets both professionally and socially, she re-evaluates her marriage with her nice but dull husband versus the faster lifestyle she craves.

Finally, Fairuza Balk, in all her spooky, gothy glory, is fleeing in a station wagon and picks up a street kid hitchhiker who has signs of abuse. As she feels out of control in her own life (what she is running from is slowly revealed), she decides that maybe it is her fate to save this boy from his harsh life. But, of course, maybe not everyone wants to be saved.

I've heard complaints about the use of a narrator in these tales... but that didn't bother me so much. As the segments feel like shorts stories, the narration just added to this feeling, making it an illustrated Book on Tape, if you will.

But the quality of the stories varied. I found that I really enjoyed the Parker Posey segment, with her character of Greta streamlining her life with the efficiency of an editor with a red pen (my friends found this quality disturbing, but I thought it was very funny). Balk's segment wasn't bad, but was a bit uninteresting. And Sedgwick, for me at least, didn't really come across convincing as a trampy woman.

If you are a fan of the actresses, check out Personal Velocity, as the film is a fine showcase for lead women's roles for once. But taking the three stories apart, well, Parker Posey's segment is the only one that really stands on its own as one that I'd really recommend. On that note, when this comes out on video, take advantage of the chapter search or fast forward button to save yourself some time in looking for the good stuff.