Desert Blue

{{Short description|1998 American comedy-drama film by Morgan J. Freeman}} {{For|the butterflies with this common name|Euchrysops nilotica{{!}}''Euchrysops nilotica''|Jalmenus aridus{{!}}''Jalmenus aridus''}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox film | name = Desert Blue | image = Desert blue.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Morgan J. Freeman | producer = {{plainlist| * Effie Brown * Michael Burns * Nadia Leonelli * Andrea Sperling }} | writer = Morgan J. Freeman | starring = {{plainlist| * Brendan Sexton III * Kate Hudson * John Heard * Christina Ricci * Casey Affleck * Sara Gilbert * Ethan Suplee * Peter Sarsgaard * Michael Ironside }} | music = Vytas Nagisetty | cinematography = Enrique Chediak | editing = Sabine Hoffmann | distributor = Franchise Pictures | released = {{Film date|1998|09|12}} | runtime = 90 minutes | country = United States | language = English }} '''''Desert Blue''''' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Morgan J. Freeman, and starring Brendan Sexton III, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci, Casey Affleck, Sara Gilbert, and John Heard.<ref name=":0" />

== Plot == A rising Hollywood starlet becomes "marooned" in a small desert town while on a roadtrip with her father. There, she gets to know the town's rather eccentric residents, including one whose hobby is pipe bombs and another who is trying to carry out his father's dream of building a waterpark in the desert.

==Cast== {{Cast listing| * Brendan Sexton III as Blue Baxter * Kate Hudson as Skye Davis * Christina Ricci as Ely Jackson * Casey Affleck as Peter Kepler * John Heard as Professor Lance Davidson * Ethan Suplee as Cale * Sara Gilbert as Sandy * Isidra Vega as Haley Gordon * Peter Sarsgaard as Billy Baxter * Rene Rivera as Dr. Gordon * Lee Holmes as Deputy Keeler * Lucinda Jenney as Caroline Baxter * Jerry Agee as Insurance Agent * Daniel Von Bargen as Sheriff Jackson * Richmond Arquette as Truck Driver * Michael Ironside as FBI Agent Frank Bellows * Nate Moore as FBI Agent Red * Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as FBI Agent Green * Aunjanue Ellis as FBI Agent Summers * Fred Schneider as KBLU Radio DJ (voice) * Liev Schreiber as Mickey Moonday (voice) * MacDaddy Beefcake as Telly Clems (voice) }}

==Soundtrack== The soundtrack features songs by The Candyskins, Rilo Kiley, Janis Ian, and others.

==Reception== Rotten Tomatoes, review aggregator, reports that 37% of 19 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/desert_blue/|title=Desert Blue (1999)|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> Glenn Lovell of ''Variety'' called it "a cloying, mechanically plotted comedy."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/desert-blue-1200455133/|title=Review: 'Desert Blue'|last=Lovell|first=Glenn|work=Variety|date=1998-09-18|access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> Lawrence Van Gelder of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "The graceful literary and directorial touch of Morgan J. Freeman turns these youngsters into individuals rather than cinema's customary caricatures."<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence |date=1999-06-04 |title=Desert Blue (1998) |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/060499desert-film-review.html |access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> John Anderson of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "It's a small story, perhaps even an ephemeral movie, but ''Desert Blue'' also has a novelistic capacity for character and setting, without either the maudlin sentimentality or gratuitous vulgarity of most teen-oriented movies."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-18-ca-47616-story.html|title=Seductive 'Desert' Takes a Charming Slap at Reality|last=Anderson|first=John|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1999-06-18|access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> Roger Ebert of ''The Chicago Sun-Times'' rated it three out of four stars and compared it to ''The Last Picture Show'' and ''U Turn'', saying that it is the "herbal tea" version of the latter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/desert-blue-1999|title=Desert Blue|last=Ebert|first=Roger|work=RogerEbert.com|date=1999-09-10|access-date=2015-01-22}}</ref> Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film a grade of C and described the setting as "yet another indie drama set in a burg reminiscent, by way of aggressive eccentricity, of TV's ''Northern Exposure''."<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/06/18/desert-blue/|title=Desert Blue (1999)|last=Schwarzbaum|first=Lisa|journal=Entertainment Weekly|issue=490|date=1999-06-18|access-date=2015-01-22|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223154237/https://ew.com/article/1999/06/18/desert-blue/|archive-date=February 23, 2020}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0126261}} *{{rotten tomatoes|desert_blue}}

Category:1998 films Category:1998 comedy-drama films Category:American comedy-drama films Category:1998 English-language films Category:Films directed by Morgan J. Freeman Category:1998 independent films Category:Films produced by Andrea Sperling Category:The Samuel Goldwyn Company films Category:1998 American films Category:English-language comedy-drama films Category:English-language independent films Category:Franchise Pictures films