Watched the indie film Another Earth a few days ago and one thing is nagging at me. While I can accept the premise of a doppelganger Earth showing up and hovering close to our Earth, I found another plot point unlikely: the main character is a minor when she drives under the influence and ends up crashing into another vehicle, killing a young boy and his pregnant mother. The father is injured and goes into a long coma. Anyway, the girl is sentenced to four years in prison. Is this likely? Granted people died but she was underage and it was a first offense. She was also a good-looking white girl and we know how courts don’t like to punish THEM. I just kinda found that hard to swallow…
Vehicular Manslaughter of a child and a pregnant woman while DUI? They could’ve prosecuted her as an adult. Where was the film set?
I don’t think it was ever stated where the film was set, but since there were scenes set on the beach I’m assuming east coast. Definitely not west coast.
I don’t know, it just seemed unlikely that she’d serve a four year sentence. Pretty white girl, just accepted into MIT, a minor, first-time offense. She was also quite devastated by what she’d done so it’s not like she wasn’t showing any remorse. But hey, I could be wrong…
It’s not that far-fetched. She wasn’t a little girl; she was 17 and had just graduated high school, and was driving home from a party super-drunk and speeding. My guess is they could have easily tried her as an adult and the four years was the result of a plea-bargain.
One of the best movies I’ve seen in years, BTW. It’s a favorite.
ETA: And the movie takes place in Connecticut, outside New Haven.
Thanks.
I could see her maybe sentenced to four years but I doubt she’d serve that much. Eh, a minor quibble in an otherwise intriguing movie. Loved the ending!
Thought it was far more successful than the similar Journey to the Far Side of the Sun…
I agree with this. She might have been sentenced to, say, 10 years in a “get tough with drunk drivers”-type crackdown but only served four because of good behavior. I was lucky enough to see this at a free screening (but went back and paid to see it again once it opened) and met the co-writer/star Brit Marling and the co-writer/director Mike Cahill. They were there for a Q&A session but no one thought to ask that particular question. Too bad, it’s a good one.
That pair is really one to watch for future projects. They did so much with so little money. Marling said that they were both struggling artists in Los Angeles and decided to just write and make their own movie instead of waiting around for something to come to them. Good idea.
It’s also one of my favorites of the year. It’s a shame it only ever played in 94 theaters. It kills me that it’s only 63% at Rotten Tomatoes. A quick review of some of the objections shows that those reviewers didn’t get it at all. It’s not a perfect movie but they seem to object to the pace, the poetry, and the lack of gravitational pull. And the ending, which I thought was perfect.
Original Earth, I assume.
Smartass! 