Tow: Movie Review
Warnings: Discussions of Homelessness and alcoholism
Tow was one of the more surprising movies I saw so far this year. While the pacing of the film was inconsistent, either being a little too fast at times. The movie, overall had a strong impact on me and how homelessness, especially in women is viewed not only individually, but how society treats those who are homeless and stereotypes them and the stuff that they value compared to how we could value those possessions.
The story follows Amanda Ogle, a recovering alcoholic who has her car stolen while on a job interview. When she finds out that it was found, she has to pay $200 for the car to be returned to her, which obviously doesn’t work. The whole picture was a sad but true depiction of how little empathy towing companies/people in general have for the misfortunate. Amanda, fights her case in the system and spends hours on end and that was insane in my opinion about how long these processes take, not to mention that she risks losing her job that she just acquired. Amanda’s journey throughout the film feels authentic and a great representation of the true story that she encountered. Now, in all fairness there might’ve been some things that they added to “Hollywood” it up/ “add more drama”, which I don’t like. However, in this case I was able to the transformation Amanda makes from being a struggling woman who denies her homelessness to not fully embracing it, but rather accepting the state she is in and addressing the stereotypes that people have, especially the towing company’s perception of how they view people that are homeless.
What I also appreciate about this film is unlike Reminders of Him, they didn’t water anything down and told an authentic story. For instance, we got to see other women’s POV when it came to there situations regarding homelessness, such as Nova (Demi Lovato), Denise (Ariana DeBose), and Barb (Octavia Spencer). Each character was able to bring some insight into there situations of how they ended up at the homeless shelter. However, as much as I know this story is about Amanda, I do wish we got more context (other than Denise, since we dive into her journey and get more fleshed out background) that we were able to get some perspective and impact there situations have on them, especially Nova since she is pregnant throughout the whole film.
A highlight of the film was the mother/daughter relationship of the film. I saw Avery (Amanda’s daughter) desperately want a relationship, despite unfortunate circumstances but because of the situation Amanda faces, we see the trust slowly disintegrate to the point where Avery temporarily cuts her out of her life. While sad, because we can understand Amanda’s circumstances, the filmmakers/writers did a fantastic job of highlighting Avery’s struggled to of constantly being lied to in the past to the point where there is only so much someone can take before they finally say enough. They allowed us to see both sides of the same coin and that I appreciated. Heartbreaking but a sad reality some people face in life sometimes.
Going back to Demi Lovato, kudos to her because she was able to bring a balance of lightness while also being grounded in the circumstances she was in. There was an authenticity to her performance, along with DeBose and Byrne that pulled me into the movie more. While some of the lines could’ve been delivered better, in my opinion, I do feel that they did there best and brought to light a subject that is difficult to grasp with dignity and respect. Also have to highlight Lovato’s singing as I got goosebumps when she started to sing during the Christmas party.
I was so pissed off at Rosa and the stereotypes/writing off Amanda and the car she values so much to the point where she was sleeping in it due to the situation she was in. The whole time, I was infuriated/stunned at the way he wrote off this case/tried to blow it off, but ultimately he couldn’t and lost the case in the final act. However, that being said, Bernstein did a great job of portraying such a horrid human being. Another thing that pissed me off was not seeing Denise and Nova at the court hearing, but rather minor characters like Debbie be there to support her. While it was nice to see that support, it would’ve been great to see the people she interacted with consistently there to support her rather than minor characters that had little to no impact in the movie.
Last thing I’ll say, the ending was annoying because by the time she gets the car back, she can’t drive it because an employee forgot to charge it and that was how it ended. That didn’t feel as satisfying as I would’ve liked, though she did get to se her daughter who she has been estranged from for so long. Also the fact that the real life case got no financial reparations nor apology really pissed me off. Like, come on, help the woman out. You screwed her over to begin with, the least you can do is apologize!
This movie was a great demonstration of how to address real life issues in a dignified manner. I would recommend seeing this movie, just not with kids!