One of the best ways to get to know what a family member, a friend, or a lover is like is go on a long-distance road trip. Sooner or later all the things that press his or her buttons will rise to the surface and you can see clearly who that person really is on a day-to-day basis. Writer and director Olivia Silver knows this to be true and has fashioned her film about a father driving his three kids from their old home in Connecticut to a new one in Arcadia, California.
As her older sister Caroline (Kendall Toole) and her younger brother Nat (Ty Simpkins) wait in the car, 12-year-old Greta (Ryan Simpkins) lingers in the house looking at the family photographs. Tom (John Hawkes), their father, has gotten himself a new job out West after months of unemployment. He assures the children that their mother will be coming soon to join them in Arcadia.
At first Tom is cheerful, joking with his kids, singing songs, and telling stories. But there is an unspoken tension in the air coming from Greta who is unable to reach her mother by phone. She is a highly ethical young girl who is very upset when she learns her brother has stolen some candy from a store. Greta grows most restless as they move from state to state. It doesn't help that she can't sleep well at night because her father insists on having the TV on.
Meanwhile, Tom grows more angry and aggressive. He gets into a fight with a driver who irritates him and then lies to the police about what happened. After a waitress rubs him the wrong way, he storms out of the place before they have eaten. He's constantly complaining about the power plays of Big Government.
Arcadia focuses like a laser beam on Greta's coming-of-age as she sets herself apart from her pretty sister and her smart brother. She still carries around with her a stuffed rabbit called Harrison. Unlike her siblings she is not a playful or a social person, preferring animals to people. She becomes convinced that her father is not telling the truth about their mother. When Tom does emotionally explode at last, it happens after waiting in a long line to gain entry to the Grand Canyon, a treat that Nat has eagerly been waiting for since leaving Connecticut. It takes a big time blow-up for Greta and her dad to honestly confront each other and express their feelings.
Arcadia hits the mark as an emotionally authentic coming of age drama.
Special features on the DVD include the short film: Little Canyon.
