User Reviews

I'll cut to the chase as other user reviews on here completely ignore the nuances of the last 30 minutes.

Alex finally comes to terms that her advisor is a complete jerk and only is concerned about his promotion and awards and that financial dependence was a mismatch to her fierce independence.

Nick has maturity issues but who wouldn't have at his age losing a mother and the ranch. Your entire young life is turned.

Steve gets what he wants, Nicks dad gets a new life and Nick begins to ponder his life journey.

Dr. Beatty marvels over Alex's discovery as Alex starts her doctoral studies in a new academic environment.

Alex is going to ask Steve for a townhouse to rent with plans to stay out west and even adopting a new way of thinking.

This film is really good for the geology focus; the reality of academic politics and using grad assistants as cheap labor for research; beautiful landscape cinematography; the differences in people merged together with different responsibilities; and lastly, boyfriends can turn on ya to make a splash.

It is difficult to find a movie without a single likable character in it. Even the geology student, who, as a character held promise initially, became a self centered waste ( screw the fence, let's go drink ) followed by a wishy washy whiny kid ( oh alas, alas, I don't know what to do ). And then there's the boyfriend who screws her over, and the professor who screws her over, and the farmer boy who is so so sad and stomps his feet when she says no, I'm not going to stay in this crappy little desert with you so we can climb rocks together and live happily ever after. Seriously. Some nice scenery, but the acting was crap, and the story was soap, and I van really embarrassed I watched the whole thing.

The premise of the movie is compelling for anyone who has experienced the cutthroat nature of academia: The main girl Alex has her research idea stolen by her (ex) boyfriend. And her new research plan takes her to the Nevada high desert, but she is not supported by her advisor.

The movie shows a lot of realistic geology field work, which is pleasantly surprising since most movies about "science" seem more focused on the drama and making things appear high tech, when in reality there is a lot of wandering around the outdoors with a map, trying to piece things together. However, I am not sure how entertaining this is to anyone who is not an academic or a geologist.

Alex then meets Nick, the son of a local rancher. I enjoyed this subplot of the film, showing how ranchers can struggle to make a living for themselves, and different aspects of ranch life. Unfortunately towards the end, Nick became incredibly whiny. At the beginning he seemed sweet and was able to break down Alex's walls a bit (she was incredibly standoffish at first). I understand the movie was trying to show how much Nick was being affected by the fear of losing the ranch, but he really just came across as quick to anger and place blame on others.

But overall I enjoyed watching the relationship between Nick and Alex grow and become deeper. If anything I wish we could have seen even more interactions between the characters, to really show how close they became in only a matter of a few weeks.

The ending was bittersweet, but overall left me pretty pleased with the movie.

In summary: Pros

• excellent developing friendship between characters Nick and Alex
• showing realistic geology field work, and the power struggles of academia
• showing the realistic struggles of small family ranchers
• beautiful cinematography and scenery

Cons:

• I wish the relationship between Alex and Nick could have been a bit more fleshed out, to really emphasize their bond
• Nick became a bit too whiny towards the end.