Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's earl y feature is nonethele ss a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to c ast his chara cters per fectly came early i n his car eer. Adrienne Shelley is a ne ar perfect foil to her self, equal parts annoying teen burgeo ning in her sex uality (though usin g sex for several yea rs); obse ssed with doom and inspired by idea lism gone wrong she is decep tively – and simultaneously – com plex and simple. Her Audrey inspir es so many levels of symbolism it is almost emba rrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career begi nning with photos of her f oot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Ma nhatt an move; Europe trip; her st ealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wr ench, etc.) As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absol utely masterful perf ormance. A reformed prisonerpenitent he returns to his home town to face down past demo ns, accept his lot an d begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeat edly mistaken f or a priest, he cor rects everyone (I'm a mechanic ), yet the symbolism is rich he abstains from al cohol, he practices celiba cy (is, in fact a virgin ), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humi lity a s well. The humility seems hardest to sw allow seem ing, at times, almos t false, a p retense. Yet, as we learn mor e of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is i ndeed earnest and be lievable. W hat seems ironic is t he character is fairl y forthrig ht in his simplicity, yet so ric hly dr awn i t be comes the viewer who wants to make him out as m ore than wh at he actua lly is. A fasci natingly wr itten character, perfectly p layed. The scene betw een Josh and Jan e (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . You need a woman not a gi rl) is hilarious . . . re al. B ut Hartley can't leave it as su ch and his t rick, having the ac tors repe at the dialogue over-and-over becomes fr ustr atingly a rty and annoying . . . until again it b ecomes hilarious. W hat a terrific sense of bizarre reality t his lends th e film (like kids in a perpe tual am notare too argument). Hartle y's weaves all o f a small neighborho od's idiosyncrasie s into a tapestry of s eeming stereotypes bu t which de lves far b enea th th e surface, the catalyst being t hat everyo ne believes they kno w what th e unbelievable tru th o f th e title is, yet no t wo people can agree (in cluding our hero) on wha t exactly that truth is. A wonderf ul little movie w ith some big ideas.
精彩剧情/对白：“说到底，你 们这些有钱的文化人还不照样被我这个乡下来的女人玩得团团转 吗？有本事你让警察抓我啊，哈哈哈，谁敢 抓我，我就是欺负你女儿咋 了？我恨不得让她给我当牛做马，凭啥 我的亲闺女吃不饱穿不暖，我还得在家伺候你闺女，你们算老几啊？”
“自然是愿意的，如果分家，我 巴不得这样呢，我自己单干，什么日子会没有？我就是不想自己悻悻苦苦忙活，最后全 被人吸走 ，我爹娘不就是这么累死的 ？但凡有机会，我巴不 得呢，就算是付出一些代价，我都是愿意的！只是乔家人 聪明，不肯放我走！但凡是 有一点点的机会吸血，他们都不会放过的！”
“荷花婶子和翠花婶子两个，另外还有 老崔叔。当年能在顾家老宅有两个读书人，而我们一家子连饭 都吃不上，只能住在竹棚里的时候，就那样帮助我们，而不是像其他 人一样去讨好顾家老宅，就 已经明了她们足够的善良 。正因为这样单纯的善 良，让她们和其他人不同。 ”
“外公一家从王家分家 出来了，往后便是咱们一家子过日子了。王家， 我的三叔在读书， 将来若是考取了功名，没准怎么对待我们呢。所以娘希望你 不要浪费时间在这里，而是回 去读书。咱们 家，就你一个男儿，你若 是读书，也 能护着这个家几分，让别人不敢轻易就欺负我们。”
“我们不要，顾家老宅不管 是对于曾经的我还是孩子们来，都是并不好的回忆，买回来，也是让孩 子们痛苦。村长啊，不瞒你，就是青 青，到现在都是绕着老宅走的，之前逼不得已她去过 一次，站在那里，青青就开始浑身发抖，因为在那里，她会想 起她从到 大过的非饶 日子。”
