Independence Day (1983)

An aspiring photographer (Kathleen Quinlan) in a small New Mexico town works as a waitress in her father's (Josef Sommer) diner and cares for her cancer stricken mother (Frances Sternhagen) while she awaits word if she's been accepted to a prestigious school in Los Angeles to study photography. Directed by Robert Mandel (F/X), this small indie film slipped under the radar and disappeared until it was discovered on cable a few years later. It's well made if nothing special (except for one thing), Mandel creates the atmosphere of a dead end town carefully and the actors are good. But we've seen too many of these movies where small town dreamers have big dreams and with a few exceptions, it doesn't diverge from the tried and true path. At first, I thought Kathleen Quinlan's performance was off but it wasn't until later that I realized, it was her character that was "off" and intentionally so, a mask she wore to hide her frustrations. The one thing that is special is a dynamite performance by Dianne Wiest as a battered wife. It's the kind of performance that lifts the movie onto another plateau. If the film had been wider seen, it's the kind of performance that wins Oscars. With David Keith, Cliff DeYoung, Richard Farnsworth and Bert Remsen.