Opening today at select theaters across the country, as well as VOD, is the drama, Katie Says Goodbye.
The film stars Olivia Cooke, Christopher Abbott, Jim Belushi, Mary Steenburgen and Mireille Enos.
Katie (Cooke) is a young woman living in a small town in the middle of no where. She lives in a trailer with her mom (Enos).
Katie doesn’t have much going for her. She has no education. No boyfriend. No real friends. She doesn’t even have a car, which means she has to walk miles every day to and from work.
Katie dreams of moving to San Francisco with her mom. She feels like she can have a better life there. She even aspires to be a hairdresser.
In order to get to San Francisco, Katie needs money. Her waitress job does not pay enough, especially since she has to help out paying for expenses (such as rent) at home. To raise more money, Katie does “favors” (aka, has sexual relations) with men around town, including a kind, older truck driver (Belushi) and the father of a co-worker.
One day Katie meets Bruno. He’s new to town. He was recently released from prison.
Katie thinks she’s found happiness with Bruno, and feels he’s someone she can share her life with in San Francisco, if she can ever get there.
Katie has much optimism, however, mounting events take away from her happiness, and her dreams of a better life. Or do they?
Will Katie make it to San Francisco? Will she find the ideal life she’s been dreaming of? To find out you need to see Katie Says Goodbye. Look for it at a theater near you. You can also look for it on Video on Demand (VOD).
I had the opportunity to view a free screener of the film. It’s honestly not what I expected. The film is a bit more “grim” than what I was anticipating.
There are several sexual situations in this film, including nudity. In addition there was a rape scene and a scene involving rough sex. I honestly wasn’t expecting that at all. And to be honest, I didn’t think the film needed to go in that direction. Yes, I understand she prostitutes herself out to raise money to go to San Francisco, but there was no need to factor in a rape scene or rough sex. In the film, Katie has sex with Jim Belushi’s character a few times. Those scenes were not graphic is nature, nor was there nudity. Just seeing the pair together you knew they had sex. There was no need to show it. I hope that makes sense?
The acting in this film was really good. The characters all seemed genuine and believable. You got a sense from the film that Jim Belushi’s character (Bear), was a kind, caring soul. You also knew that Mary Steenburgen’s character (Katie’s boss at the diner, Maybelle), was also compassionate and cared about Katie.
I give a lot of credit to Cooke (Katie). She portrayed Katie exceptionally well. Throughout the film she pulled off the sweet innocence that Katie had. Even when things seemed hopeless, she some how gave the character a sense of “this will not ruin me” attitude.
The cinematography in this film really added to the story.
For more information about the film, please visit KatieSaysGoodbye-Film.com.
Here is the official trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener to review the film. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.