Come Early Morning

Written & directed by Joey Lauren Adams

Actress-turned-filmmaker Joey Lauren Adams, known for her performances in Chasing Amy, Dazed and Confused and Mallrats, makes her directorial debut with a super-charged, emotionally autobiographical first script, Come Early Morning. The character-driven story revolves around Lucy Fowler (Ashley Judd), a fiercely independent, highly spirited, freethinking Southern woman who considerately cares for aging, ailing relatives and successfully manages a construction company by day. At night she throws off her emotional burdens by tossing back shots at her small town’s bar and finds release through alcohol-enabled one-night stands.

Judd’s direct and nuanced performance allows Lucy to seem familiar without being clichéd. Yes, we’ve seen characters like Lucy before, but Judd plays her with an honesty that’s strong and convincing.

Lucy can’t quite pinpoint what’s wrong with her life, but she sure as hell knows nothing’s really right. More specifically, she’s desperately seeking reconciliation with her estranged and alcoholic father and is emotionally crippled by her overwhelming fear of the intimacy and commitment fundamental to a long-term relationship. When Lucy heads for bed with new-guy-in-town Cal (Jeffrey Donovan), she wakes up liking him a lot more than she ever expected. The feeling is mutual and causes an overwhelmingly emotional shockwave in Lucy, which becomes a catalyst for all sorts of change in her life.

One thing that doesn’t change is Lucy’s love of good ol’ country music, and the film’s soundtrack presents an impeccable selection of country hits. To her credit, Adams uses the music to legitimately underscore plot points and emotions and is never used as a didactic prop. 

As a director, Adams doesn’t force anything. She creates a fertile field in which Lucy’s realizations grow organically and provides all of her characters time to breathe, which allows audiences to absorb them and reflect on the complex truths they reveal. Adams has guided her ensemble—Judd and Donovan, as well as Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson and Stacey Keach—to gutsy, impressively truthful performances.