Help me ID this possibly-scandalous movie!
March 4, 2011 10:02 PM   Subscribe

Identify this movie! Girl brushing her hair, man and girl in truck, potentially disturbing dialogue.

Back in the late 1990s (or potentially early 2000s?), our cable provider was reorganizing its channels and for awhile broadcast random movies on channel 44. I only saw bits and pieces of one film -- I was quite young -- but I've wanted to know what it was ever since.

It had a scene with a teenage girl eating dinner, then becoming upset for some reason and running upstairs to brush her hair in her room. A later scene involved her riding in a truck with an older man. The truck stopped and the two got out and leaned against the truck to talk. The man said something to the girl, which caused my mother to freak out and change the channel.

So, I'm desperate to know -- what was the film? What did the man say that my mother deemed so inappropriate? Thank you so much if you can help.
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad to Media & Arts (15 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Smooth Talk?
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:19 PM on March 4, 2011


Wait, that's from 1985. Maybe Trees Lounge (1996)?
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:30 PM on March 4, 2011


That reminds me of Kalifornia (Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, Brad Pitt), although I'm not sure why, I haven't seen it in years.
posted by fshgrl at 10:53 PM on March 4, 2011


Reese Witherspoon was in a couple of sort of trashy girl-in-danger movies in the late 90s, I think "Freeway" and "Fear." Also a version of Lolita came out in 1996.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:25 PM on March 4, 2011


Yeah, that could be Freeway.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:31 PM on March 4, 2011


Oh, and if it is, then the scene with the two of them talking is when Kiefer Sutherland tries to sexually assault Reese Witherspoon. (iirc - I remember that Sutherland's character has a truck and they drive in it.)
posted by rmd1023 at 11:34 PM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


Put me down for "Freeway."
posted by rhizome at 12:39 AM on March 5, 2011


Just from the details you give, it could be Lawn Dogs, though I think Mischa Barton was only 11 in that. There are definitely scenes in that that would cause your mom to freak out.
posted by bricoleur at 4:01 AM on March 5, 2011


Yeah, I think this is Freeway. One of my favorite movies ever, but not for young children at all. POTENTIAL SPOILERZ: the hair brushing happens a few times and foreshadows a key plot element, and the inappropriate dialogue is when the guy (a school counselor, who is giving the girl a ride after her car breaks down) is asking her questions about her past sexual abuse in a prurient/manipulative way.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:17 AM on March 5, 2011


Could it have been Lolita? I remember a truck scene in Lolita.
posted by echo0720 at 12:21 PM on March 5, 2011


It's been a long time, but were there scenes like this in the remake of Cape Fear? I know there was some skeevy action with De Niro and Juliette Lewis but I don't recall if these specific scenes were in the film.
posted by Justinian at 6:32 PM on March 5, 2011


Have you tried asking your mother?
posted by ErWenn at 7:32 PM on March 5, 2011


The Unbelievable Truth?
posted by herrdoktor at 9:26 PM on March 5, 2011


Response by poster: OK, I've requested Freeway from my university library. I'll let you know soon enough if this is the movie in question! unknowncommand's specific mention of hair brushing makes it sound like this might be it.
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad at 5:43 PM on March 6, 2011


Hm, though I just watched some clips on YouTube, and maybe her hair is in a ponytail for the first half of the movie.
posted by unknowncommand at 9:48 PM on March 6, 2011


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