"Purgatory Flats", shown on cable recently, is a small movie that packs a lot. Harris Done directs with style. The screen play by Mr. Done and Diane Fine makes a good thriller.
If you haven't seen the film, perhaps you would like to stop reading.
The film is the story about a young L.A. doctor that made a mistake and lives to pay for it. Upon being released from prison he wants to hide in a small town where he feels he will be forgotten. Bad choice! What Thomas Reed finds in Purgatory Flats is hell in the desert. Right after landing a job as a bar tender, Thomas meets a pretty young woman, Sunny, who, clearly is someone to stay away from. The young doctor is called to help as Sunny's boyfriend Randy, is gunned down by a drug dealer.
We get to know Randy's family. His uncle Dean appears to be OK, but his brother Owen is a loose cannon. Every one in the household is connected in more ways than one to the nubile Sunny.
The performances are fine. Vincent Ventresca is Thomas, the man who should have gone to his L.A. practice instead of making a detour to the small town. Alexandra Holden is Sunny, a young woman with a tremendous ambition to escape her surroundings. Kevin Alejandro, Gregg Henry, Brian Austin play the men in the Mecklin family well. Nicholas Turturro makes also a good contribution as the drug dealer.
The film shows a director with promise who will go far judging from this tightly constructed film.
