CineVegas 2006 (2006)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on June 15, 2006 @ Las Vegas Weekly.

Thanks to Gravity is as predictable as gravity. With a topic -- a young woman trying to find herself as a debater, a daughter and a woman -- bristling with potential for a fresh, keen eye, it's more a connect-the-dots script, touching fleetingly on a bunch of issues.

The most promising is that of a young woman struggling with her Latin-Jewish heritage and family. But it has to share the screen with the world of college debate and a shocking experience from the past, and it becomes simply another theme.

The cast is more than serviceable. Gina Philips is appealing as the buffeted young woman, Jordan. Adam Rodriguez is fine as Eric, her friend, but he's underserved by the script.

There's a telling faux pas in one scene: Jordan wears a T-shirt that proclaims: "Debater's Rule." They may rule, but they can't punctuate. And Jordan supposedly goes to Harvard.

The movie's best moment is when Eve Gordon, as Jordan's mother, meets her daughter's college roommate who is a lesbian feminist. Gordon's facial responses are priceless.

Produced by actress Philips and Amy Greenspun, Thanks to Gravity is an earnest effort with pleasant moments, but far too often it settles for the conventional and the obvious.