Juanita
Available on Netflix
Juanita Lewiston (Alfre Woodard) needs a break in JUANITA. Her oldest son is in jail, but innocent. Her daughter is an irresponsible mom who depends on Juanita for just about everything. Her youngest son, not yet an adult except in years, is clearly on the wrong path. Nine years working for $12.50 an hour at a medical facility is wearing Juanita down with no end in sight. Only her intricately created fantasy romance with a movie star (Blair Underwood, playing himself) gives her any pleasure at all. Even that fantasy lets her down when Blair, too, asks her for money. It's the final blow to a fragile equilibrium. To her family's astonishment, Juanita takes off, suitcase and map in tow, heading west. When she lands in Paper Moon, Montana, it's a whole new world populated by Native Americans and hearty Westerners. Juanita creates a job for herself in a surprising French restaurant on the outskirts of the small town. It's owned by Jesse (Adam Beach), a veteran who hasn't quite recovered from his stint in the Gulf War. Though only the first stop on Juanita's adventure, it may be as far as she needs to go. What she finds is much more than a passing adventure. It's strange, it's eye-opening, and it may help Juanita recapture the spirit she's so long struggled to find.
Starring Alfre Woodard, Ashlie Atkinson, Lindsley Register
Director Clark Johnson