Tow (dir. Stephanie Laing)
By: Adam Freed
Some people just can’t get ahead, no matter how hard they try. In the case of Amanda, a Seattle-based woman living in her 1991 Honda Civic, the cards seem perpetually stacked against her. Estranged from her teenage daughter due to a long history of alcoholism, Amanda, now sober, is in perpetual search of gainful employment. For Amanda, and others attempting to exist below the poverty line, life’s small bumps in the road can often present themselves as mountains. This is the central conflict of Tow, a delightfully compact ensemble drama directed by Stephanie Laing (Palm Royale, Your Friends & Neighbors). Amanda’s precarious existence is thrown off axis when her Honda, which doubles as her home, is wrongfully towed and impounded while she is partaking in a job interview. All that stands between the unlucky mother and returning to life as it was, is a $270 fee that she has no means of paying. This sets forth an unexpected legal battle much akin to David vs. Goliath.
The delightful surprise of Tow is how such a simple story could possibly attract such an impressive array of actors to give it life. Most notable is recent Academy Award nominee Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Bridesmaids) who imbues Amanda with a relentless defensive posture seemingly in rejection of her illfound lot in life. Byrne, no stranger to the embodiment of women against the world, offers another laudable performance in which Amanda is filled with a rich humanity, far beyond her underwhelming station in life. Aiding Amanda in her lawsuit against the ownership group of the towing company is Kevin, a fresh from law school dogooder who views Amanda’s plight as his legal calling. The mismatched duo offers a warm, albeit age inverse echo of Erin Brockovic (2000) in which Julia Roberts’ titular character finds unlikely legal companionship with Albert Finney’s Ed Masry. In Tow, the apt but naive Kevin is played by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), the perfectly cast fresh-faced performer to view Amanda’s plight as his legal calling.
Much to the surprise of unsuspecting audiences, Tow is dotted with supporting performances populated by actors working far beneath their pay grades. Most notable is Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures, The Help) who as Barbara, the no-nonsense facilitator of a Seattle area homeless shelter for women in recovery roots the film with a stark reminder that addiction and recovery from its dark talons is possible, but only for those who choose the walk the narrow path with intent and integrity. The Academy Award winning Spencer is victimized by her underuse, but every moment she spends on screen enriches the film beautifully. Stephanie Laing may be guilty of a few casting misdemeanors that require audiences to suspend disbelief while enjoying what is otherwise an interesting story in Tow. These minor offenses are most clearly illuminated with the casting of Academy Award winning actress Arianna DeBose (West Side Story, Argylle) and Grammy nominated singer Demi Lovato to play fellow recovering unhoused shelter inhabitants Denise and Nova. Although there is nothing in their performances that distract from their purpose, seeing a triumvirate of the world’s most beautiful women, including Rose Byrne, as the key inhabitants of a women’s shelter may be enough to make one wonder what is in the water of Seattle’s unhoused population. Despite a few underserved secondary plots that Tow mistakenly insists it needs, there is enough meat on the bone of Stephanie Laing’s story to make it worthy of theatrical attention.
Target Score 6.5/10 - Based on the true story of an unhoused Seattle woman’s lawsuit against the towing company that wrongfully impounded the vehicle that doubled as her home, Stephanie Laing’s Tow features notable performances from Rose Byrne, Dominic Sessa and Octavia Spencer. Investing in Byrne’s captivating underdog performance is a great reminder that audiences are in the midst of a gifted actress in the prime of her career.