The veteran indie director Stephanie Laing (Irreplaceable You and Family Squares) teams up with Rose Byrne to present Tow. The film tells the true story of Amanda Ogle (Byrne), a woman who left her child, Avery (Elsie Fisher), to find a better life condition as a veterinary technician. However, she is unable to get employment due to her lack of experience, and she has to sleep in her 1991 Toyota Camry. During a job interview in a veterinary clinic, her car is towed by a partner company of Seattle’s City Hall, and she receives a fine of a couple hundred dollars that she is unable to pay. Hence, Amanda loses her home and transportation, and the tow service paws her car for a mere hundred and seventy-five dollars. Amanda has to live in public housing until she decides to join forces with Kevin (Dominic Sessa), a lawyer specialist in customer services who decides to help her in an unfair legal battle.
Tow follows the injustices of society towards a woman. The state has a moral duty to support its citizens in demanding moments and situations, which is the conceptualization of public policies. However, the American public power suffers from the economic liberalism values, which prioritizes austerity over the well-being of its citizens. In late capitalism, fines are a money source rather than a punishment and an educative measure for less meaningful crimes and infractions. Tow amplifies the absurdity of a state that punishes its citizens for poverty. Amanda’s fine skyrockets from a couple of hundred dollars to twenty-one thousand dollars. A worth infinity bigger than the value of an early 1990s Toyota Camry. The complicity of local administration with the private sector allows the exploitation of individual’s wrongdoings, suffering from corporate greed. The director organizes a courtroom drama of a decaying woman who arguably is not a great mother or has a job. She is morally ambiguous and has a history of alcohol abuse. But Laing reminds us that someone’s past is not a justification for exploitation.
In this sense, Rose Byrne is a fundamental element of the film. Her presence fills the gaps of a smaller production, which focuses on telling its story in a straightforward approach. The actor, most remembered for her comic work, thrives in avoiding the exaggeration of mannerisms to portray someone recovering from alcohol addiction. Most actors lean toward a heavy-handed performance when representing addiction. But Byrne finds an ideal balance to nuance her performance of Amanda, who is more complex than only the alcohol problem. She is a fashionista who never abandons her pink bows and colorful clothes, even though she does not have a spacious closet. Even living in the streets, she does not leave her personality, who she truly is. Thus, most of the film’s success relies on the outstanding performance of one of the best performers of our time. Unfortunately, culture does not appreciate comic performances as meaningful work. Hopefully, works like this one may put her on the list of best actors working in this century.
On the other hand, the performances and supporting actors are not on the same level as Byrne’s. Except for Kevin, Dominic Sessa does a solid job. The other characters are not developed enough for the story. Besides casting with big names such as Academy-Award winners for Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer, and Ariana DeBose, as well as actors like Simon Rex, Demi Lovato, and Elsie Fisher, they do not have much to do. DeBose delivers a terrible performance as an alcoholic mother who is living in the same shelter as Amanda. However, she loses her hand in the mannerisms and portrays a caricature of someone with an addiction. It is cringe-worthy acting by the actor who had no directorial notes to prevent her from doing a terrible job. The rest of the cast is not as bad as DeBose, but there is not sufficient material to introduce their characters. Other than Avery (Fisher), who is the emotional conductor for Amanda, who works hard to head back to her child but cannot because of the abuse of the law, those individuals are unidimensional and shallow.
Even though it does not feature inventive directing in terms of visual decoupage or dramatic construction, Stephanie Laing designs a compelling enough drama in Tow. It has an astounding performance by Rose Byrne, who reminds us that she is one of her generation’s best. Ultimately, the film fails to expand its emotional core through its other characters but thrives in reminding us of the injustices of late capitalism and the unfair use of the law.
Tow recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at the Tribeca site for the title.
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