September 22, 2014 US/Pacific

KELLY & CAL
Directed by Jen McGowan.

Los Angeles, CA - KELLY & CAL, directed by Jen McGowan, reminds us that life is messy and hardly ever perfect.

SYNOPSIS: KELLY & CAL tells the story about two disaffected people who find an irresistible connection to one another. Pulled between adolescence and adulthood, Kelly (Juliette Lewis) is a punk-rocker turned suburban mom nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain of a future she doesn't yet fit in. Seventeen-year-old Cal (Jonny Weston) is frustrated at his lack of control over the hand he's been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it's the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life. Their electric relationship thumbs its nose at the world, laughing at the suburban absurdities that surround them. The ridiculous and the sublime. A balance too delicate to continue.

Ms. McGowan premiered her feature film, directorial debut KELLY & CAL at the renowned SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, where she was selected a GAMECHANGER AWARD RECIPIENT. Leading up to KELLY & CAL's theatrical release in Los Angeles, The "IN" Show had the opportunity to talk with Director McGowan. Here, in part, is the interview; and, for the entire interview, click here or on the video below.

What made you bring this to film?

Director Jen McGowan
I really responded to the script. It's written by a writer named Amy Lowe Starbin and I liked the voice of the material...

I thought I could see all the characters very clearly; and, I identified with the themes of aging and marriage and identity and I thought that they were universally accessible and that's why I brought it.

Juliette Lewis. It was great to see her in an "easy" role...something that isn't fringe like she likes to do and I think she captured it beautifully. Is that what you were going for? For her performance to be basically straight-laced?

Director Jen McGowan
Yes. It's a more subtle performance than I think people are used to seeing her in. I obviously really enjoy watching her or I wouldn't have cast her in it...

...I think we just haven't seen that from her before. I think, she's certainly great at it. It's just maybe that's not what people tend to tap into with her

[In watching your film, there's] a lot there that you can really talk about afterwords.

Director Jen McGowan
Yeah and that's what I think I'd like people to take from the film, actually...this lingering of still thinking about it and still talking about it. I think that at the end of the film there is a hopefulness but it's not perfect.

In KELLY & CAL, Ms. McGowan shows us how life is complex and nuanced, filled with all kinds of messy, good intentions, and doesn't really work out as perfectly as one thinks it will.

Kelly (portrayed brilliantly by Juliette Lewis) is a new mom who is depressed, has a workaholic husband and is being smothered by her mother- and sister-in-laws. As she struggles with feeling neglected by her husband, being overwhelmed by the baby, and trying to satisfy everyone as she attempts to adapt to domestic life, she finds some spice in a new-found relationship with seventeen-year old Cal (Jonny Weston).

Cal is dealing with his own struggles, setbacks and feelings of rejection. Recently disabled, he's made to feel a nuisance to his parents and is lost trying to find himself in a body he neither wants nor understands.

KELLY & CAL are naturally drawn to each other and begin an innocent friendship. Kelly sees beyond Cal's wheelchair and Cal pays attention to Kelly for who she is (and was) instead of her role as wife, mother, or daughter-in-law.

Their friendship grows; but, what first began as harmless, turns into something quite complicated due in no small part to their difficulty in finding their own normalcy in their own situation. It all comes unraveled when they try to define their evolving relationship and, when it all falls apart, it all begins again.

KELLY & CAL is a film I most definitely recommend: In very large part to see Juliette Lewis in a role that is quite different to those she is generally known for. It also makes for a fascinating glimpse into two very different lives - one who has chosen a life fraught with difficulties and one who has chosen without choosing - and how each one must find a way to make the best of living their own life.

When watching KELLY & CAL look closely...because you just may see a reflection of yourself somewhere in it.

Gus Summers is the Host and Broadcast Producer for The "IN Show, an entertaining broadcast that covers all things exciting and enlightening.

When Gus isn't busy covering current events and interesting people, you'll see him out and about enjoying all that the City of Angels has to offer. For any questions, comments, or program ideas, he can be reached at gus@theinshow.com.

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