“Finally, trembling with vulnerability, the sensitive and versatile Lauren Ambrose is positively devastating in Think of Me, playing a jobless, poverty-stricken single mother struggling to survive in the phony swirl of Las Vegas. —She is heartbreaking without a shred of self-pity, and Think of Me is a sad, wrenching but admirably unsentimental film about the bravery of the human condition that truly deserves a bigger audience.”
—Rex Reed, The New York Observer
“Ambrose is on-screen for virtually every second, emanating a gorgeous, doomed charisma, and holds you in suspense the whole way...it's a worthwhile recession-era drama built around a terrific performance.”
—Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
“This intense, emotional film from director Bryan Wizemann captures the stress bearing down on many American families during these tough economic times in a way that few others have, or have even attempted to. —Ambrose's performance, in particular, is generating considerable buzz.”
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter
“Lauren Ambrose has a career-high turn in Think of Me, writer-director Bryan Wizemann’s smart, suspenseful, intimate film about a single mother struggling to keep her head above water while raising her young daughter.”
—Kim Voynar, Movie City News
“Continuing with his directorial trajectory of deconstructing the mythology of Las Vegas, revealing horrific realities beneath the exaggerated, flashy, hyper-consumerist veneer, Bryan Wizemann's sophomore outing, Think of Me, may very well be 2011's Frozen River, featuring an intense and uncompromising Oscar-calibre performance from Lauren Ambrose, while confronting notions of the American dream. Only, unlike Frozen River, this shocking and devastating drama is actually a jaw-dropping, entirely magnetic spectacle of indie filmmaking beyond the amazing central performance.”
—Robert Bell, Exclaim
“...an emotionally moving and stylistically impressive piece of work by writer-director Bryan Wizeman. Lauren Ambrose does a masterful job portraying a single mother in Las Vegas, waking up on the “other” side of Vegas. She struggles to support her young daughter down on the lower rungs of the 99% but with dignity intact, and when a temptation to alleviate her fiscal woes at a personal cost, the tension is palpable, as it is in the film generally. But there’s a strong heart and naturalistic artistic vision which keeps this small, alluring film engaging.”
—Josef Woodard, The Santa Barbara Independent
“In Wizemann’s clear-eyed and unsentimental telling, Angela is neither victim nor saint. She’s just another woman on the verge. —The film’s politics are subtle, inferred in the small failures that force the humiliating downward spiral of the working poor. —But by resisting judgment, Wizemann’s moving film raises interesting questions about the claims of parenthood, privilege, and the complicated ethics of love.”
—Susanna Locascio, Hammer to Nail
“Director Bryan Wizemann builds on small revealing moments to a grinding climax on the human cost of the recession. It’s Ambrose’s best performance yet in this intimate film about the most pressing issue in America.”
—Tony Wong, Toronto.com
“Bryan Wizemann’s Think of Me is a noteworthy thematic companion, and a compelling exercise in American neo-neo-realism. —characters that are convincingly drawn and artfully performed, and its sensitive evocation of a struggle that is all too believable.”
—Julian Carrignton, Sound on Sight
“Ambrose is marvelous as Angela, able to sustain a delicate, about-to-crack facade until the film’s wrenching finale. More impressive, though, is the character of Sunny. Finally a film gives us a gawky kid character whose social and physical awkwardness doesn’t come across as precocious.”
—John Semley, Torontoist
“Bryan Wizemann's feature debut recalls the work of established American realists - and TIFF favourites - Kelly Reichardt and Ramin Bahrani. Think of Me boasts an excellent lead performance by Lauren Ambrose, and shares thematic similarities with Reichardt's Wendy & Lucy and the Dardenne Brother's L'Enfant.”
—Julian Carrington, blogto.com
“Scott's performance as eight-year-old Sunny is intriguing for its simplicity. -As Angela, the wide-eyed Ambrose brings a ferocious intensity to her role. —it's a powerful portrayal of the despair many American families are facing today, and if it's too dark to stomach, then the film did its job.”
—David Silverberg, Digital Journal
“It's well-written, competently directed, has a trio of great performances at its core from Ambrose, Baker and Scott… At a time of great hardship across the world films like this are inevitable, and important.”
—Toby Moses, Lost in the Multiplex
“As a tour around the edges of third world America—a place where children wear the same cheap clothes day in and out, the car never starts, the credit card is king, and the carwash is the best entertainment money can buy—this is a chilling and illuminating film.”
—Stuart Henderson, popmatters.com
“Bryan Wizemann’s film is sensitively done. Nearly all the dramatic choices seem the right ones. No one is a monster, the conditions of “constant [economic] pressure” are monstrous. —The actors perform admirably and honestly, and the details of life are accurately presented. In our talk, Wizemann expressed an interest in the drama of the everyday and in his new film has demonstrated that interest artistically and movingly.”
—David Walsh, wsws.org
“At the world premiere of Think of Me, actress Lauren Ambrose delivered an authentic and emotionally charged performance as a struggling single mother.”
—Claire Morse, Indiewire
As things unravel for a struggling single mother in Las Vegas, she must decide what she's willing to give up to get by.
Las Vegas. Present day. A downward spiraling economy. Think of Me is the heartbreaking story of Angela Jerome (Lauren Ambrose, SIX FEET UNDER), a young single mother doing her level best not to fall apart. Her daughter Sunny (newcomer Audrey Scott) is one of the few joys in her life, but raising a child alone is a struggle on even the best of days. When the worst week of Angela's life builds to a breaking point, she is faced with an impossible choice: keep trying to make things work, or let it all go for the promise of something better. Co-starring Dylan Baker (HAPPINESS) as Max, a nihilistic reflection of Las Vegas itself, and his sister, Louise (Penelope Ann Miller, CARLITOS WAY), whose self-interested offer of 'help' becomes the hardest decision Angela will ever have to make.
Awards
The screenplay Think of Me was honored as one of the top three winners in the Slamdance Feature Screenplay Competition. Past winners include Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace and Nicole Kassell's The Woodsman.
Principal Crew |
Principal Cast Angela Lauren Ambrose Sunny Audrey P. Scott Max Dylan Baker Louise Penelope Ann Miller Ted David Conrad Cheryl Adina Porter Michael Craig Grey Thomas Keith Harris Officer Danville Dajuan Johnson Mechanic Frank Clem Teacher's Aide Eileen O'Connell |
