BECKS

(director: Daniel Powell/Elizabeth Rohrbaugh; screenwriter: Rebecca Drysdale; cinematographer: Kat Westergaard; editor: Jim Isler; music: Alyssa Robbins; cast: Lena Hall (Becks), Dan Fogler (Dave), Christine Lahti (Ann), Michael Zegen(Pete), Hayley Kiyoko (Lucy), Mena Suvari (Elyse), Wally Dunn (Gene), Natalie (Lizzy), Sas Goldberg (Callie), Morgan Weed (Maggie); Runtime: 95; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Daniel Powell/Elizabeth Rohrbaugh/Alex Bach; Irony Point/Blue Fox Entertainment; 2017)

“The Alyssa Robbins music is satisfying.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Co-writers and co-directors, the TV director Daniel Powell and Elizabeth Rohrbaugh (“The Perfect Victim”), present a unique heartfelt musical inspired by the real life of singer/songwriter Alyssa Robbins. Rebecca Drysdale also gets a screenwriting credit.

The thirty-something Brooklyn singer-songwriter Becks (Lena Hall) is content after a moderately successful music career, a cute girlfriend, and a potential move to Los Angeles in the works. But after a troubling betrayal, she loses everything and moves back into her devout Catholic, former nun, mom’s (Christine Lahti) house in St. Louis, where she lives in the same room she had as a teen. While playing for tip money at Dave’s (Dan Fogler) bar, her high school boyfriend, she begins an unexpected relationship with Elyse (Mena Suvari). She’s the bi-sexual wife of her high school adversary. When Elyse hires Becks for guitar lessons, the movie gets hot. Though the material is thin and predictable, the acting and singing by the Broadway star Lena Hall is crisp and the Alyssa Robbins music is satisfying.

REVIEWED ON 2/17/2018 GRADE: B