'Committed' to Obsession Heather Graham Outshines the Story and the Scenery By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 5, 2000

Heather Graham and Luke Wilson star in "Committed." (Miramax)

A second outing for filmmaker Lisa Krueger ("Manny and Lo"), the film is best viewed as a showcase for Heather Graham, who makes a winning screwball blonde as the devoted Joline. Though she hangs with a cynical Manhattan in-crowd, Joline believes that she and Carl (Luke Wilson), a struggling photographer, will defy the odds and live happily ever after. So when Carl suddenly leaves for parts unknown, Joline is duty-bound to track him down.

Her only clue to his whereabouts is a postcard with a blurred postmark that contains a cryptic note from Carl and a picture of a cactus on the front. With only enough money to search "two regular-size states or one big one," Joline decides on Texas, "one of those states where lost people go to get more lost." And with that she rents a car and heads for the Lone Star State.

With the exception of one unfortunate incident, Joline's 2,000-mile journey is largely uneventful. Her hair whips in the wind as she motors toward the dusty desert borderland between Texas and Mexico. The scenery's nice, with lots of fast-moving clouds. But since she's all by herself, the sequence suggests a road trip with Thelma in search of Louise.

Locating Carl isn't much of a challenge once she arrives in El Paso, where he's become a photographer for the local paper. She quickly finds him living in a trailer park outside town, yet she doesn't confront him (he needs his space, after all). She watches over him from her parked car. Adjusting the seat passes for action.

During her vigil, she is aggressively wooed by a sexy sculptor (the mouth-watering Goran Visnjic); visited by her lovable flake of a brother (moon-eyed Casey Affleck); befriended by an El Paso waitress (feisty Patricia Velasquez), and tutored by an endearing spiritual leader (Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Arau of "Like Water for Chocolate").

Unfortunately, intriguing characters, solid performances and colorful locales can't keep audiences interested if the story isn't quite there or, worse yet, the writer-director doesn't seem to know what to make of either the heroine or her misguided devotion. How much better it would have been if Joline had accepted that scrumptious sculptor's invitation.

COMMITTED (R, 97 minutes) – Contains sexual situations.