What was the name of this movie?
February 4, 2021 6:06 PM   Subscribe

The main character was a young woman with a huge crush on a mechanic that had recently returned to town from jail. It was a quirky comedy, with a lot of deadpan humor, I think.

There was a scene of him explaining how gears moved in an automatic transmission. She zoned out when he began. When it was over, she snapped back to reality and asked him to have sex with her. But she was 18 and he was around 30, so he gently but firmly refused her. Came out in the late '80s, I first saw it on HBO.
posted by Brandon Blatcher to Media & Arts (7 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I think that's The Unbelievable Truth.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:09 PM on February 4, 2021 [3 favorites]


Best answer: And if you liked that one, you should watch Trust, which is also directed by Hal Hartley and also stars Adrienne Shelly.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:15 PM on February 4, 2021 [5 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks, you saved the day.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 PM on February 4, 2021


Best answer: This is not quite the answer, but in loosely related: there's also Two Moon Junction, which is a weird late 80s erotic romance about a good-girl and a greasy bad-lad coming together with understated irony and an interesting supporting cast. Very cheesy but oddly interesting. Hated by critics, "inevitable cult following".
posted by ovvl at 6:33 PM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: My first thought was John Waters’ Crybaby but I see that wasn’t it. Crybaby is fun though!
posted by Lawn Beaver at 4:37 AM on February 5, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Oh my lord I love Hal Hartley. Agree about Trust and although you didn't ask, I recommend his film Surviving Desire.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2021


If this is a Hartley vote, 'Henry Fool' is the one that clicked for me. They're all quirky, and this one had an annoying yet oddly funny protagonist (like most of his films I guess?)
posted by ovvl at 4:25 PM on February 7, 2021


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