Review: Barefoot

Mercifully brief but mercilessly interminable, Barefoot is guaranteed to induce much face-palming and eye-rolling as well as a sustained state of cringe. Most of its talented cast is brought low by their involvement; Evan Rachel Wood is especially demeaned by a role that is all but unplayable.

A more generous reading of this remake of the 2005 German film would be to look upon Wood's mentally affected Daisy Kensington as a sort of Cinderella. Daisy has been kept sheltered by a schizophrenic mother who dispensed such valuable advice as driving gets you pregnant, and encouraged her daughter's self-esteem by saying she would never be anyone's girlfriend. The wide-eyed and baby-voiced Daisy finds herself in a Los Angeles psychiatric ward after her mother passes.

The barefoot naif is soon smitten with Jay Wheeler (Scott Speedman) after he saves her from being molested. Jay works at the hospital as part of his probation. A driftless layabout, he sleeps around, gets kicked out of strip clubs, loses money at the track, and is seriously up to his eyeballs in debt. He also happens to be rebelling against his wealthy father (Treat Williams), whose greatest sin seems to be his reasonable reluctance to fund his son's gambling problem or pie-in-the-sky business ventures.

Nevertheless, Jay somehow hatches a scheme to get some money from his dad to pay off his impatient creditors. Somehow this involves the escaped Daisy posing as his girlfriend as he attends his brother's wedding in New Orleans. Her childlike innocence and candor are passed off as charming quirks by people who, in any conceivable reality, should know better. Jay's own mother (Kate Burton) plays fairy godmother, replacing Daisy's trashy wardrobe (courtesy of Jay's stripper friends) with a vintage gown so she can shine like a princess at the wedding reception.

Barefoot is a tough pill to swallow as there are not enough spoonfuls of sugar to help digest the dreck. Despite possessing the mental capacity of a five-year-old, Daisy's pure and unstinting love is meant to redeem this irresponsible playboy who, based on the strengths of his actions, barely passes for a functioning adult. It is truly painful to watch the talented Wood lower herself with such a terribly misguided performance.

Barefoot

Directed by: Andrew Fleming

Written by: Stephen Zotnowski

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Scott Speedman, Treat Williams, Kate Burton, J.K. Simmons