Far from Home (1989)

Stuck in a remote desert town in northwest Nevada

This is a coming-of-age drama mixed with quirky murder mystery involving eccentric people living in the lonely wasteland, such as the mechanic who refuses to ‘worship Mammon’ (Richard Masur) offset by the high-strung shop owner (Susan Tyrrell). Matt Frewer and Drew Barrymore work well as the father & daughter who dearly love each other despite the typical family issues. Meanwhile the malevolent remote-controlled vehicle is reminiscent of the amusing one in Eastwood’s “The Dead Pool,” released the previous year.

In the feminine department, Drew was 13½ during shooting in August, 1988 (which technically started filming on July 25th). She’s a blossoming beauty, just way too young. That leaves us with the stunning Karen Austin, who was 32 years-old during shooting, as well as the inimitable Jennifer Tilly, who was a month shy of 30; regrettably, their roles are pretty small.

Nine years after this was released “Desert Blue” borrowed the plot, minus the whodunit angle, for a more mundane story. The abandoned skeleton of a building here is exchanged for an ominous cola factory. By contrast, this one goes over-the-top with sporadic thriller bits, which will inspire some viewers to roll their eyes.

It runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in northwest Nevada, mostly Gerlach, which is a 2.5 hour drive northeast of Lake Tahoe, but also American Flats (the cement structure), which is a few miles south of Virginia City. Carson City is also listed.

GRADE: B