Did You Know? The Mitchell Corn Palace also known as The World’s Only Corn Palace is located in Mitchell, South Dakota, and the space is multifunctional. The structure has murals made from corn kernels, grains, and other native grass. The theme varies every year, so previous murals depict battles from World War II, Native American cultures, and local wildlife of South Dakota. The Mitchell Corn Palace is the starting point of Dan and Jane’s enigmatic journey in Ethan Warren’s debut feature film West of Her.
At the beginning of the movie, Dan Lincoln (Ryan Carry) receives a strange call that wakes him up. The voice on the other side of the line asked Dan, Do you have anyone close to you? Does your life have any value? In response to this question, Dan was instructed to go to a bus station in Chicago after answering in the negative. Dan’s new partner is Jane (Kelsey Siepser) who drives west with Dan on his intriguing journey.
West of Her is basically just two young good-looking people having deep discussions in front of famous landmarks in America. That is not a criticism of the film.
It turns out that the quest is part of a complex art project that involves putting tiles into the streets next to famous places in the U.S. Similar to the “Toynbee Tiles” that have appeared throughout North and South America, these tiles have a mysterious saying. Dan has become obsessed with the message and all of the projects that it encompasses. He is convinced there is a deeper meaning behind it all, even as the project’s directors only let him glimpse a small part of it. Jane, on the other hand, sees this whole thing as a funny distraction. She thinks that the tiles by themselves do not mean anything, they only gain meaning once other people see them and try to make sense of them. For Jane, the tiles only serve the purpose of putting a bit of magic into people’s lives.
These two opposing perspectives create the dramatic essence of West of Her, which stems from Warren’s screenplay. As Dan and Jane begin their journey to the West, they also begin their closeness with one another. The issue is that Dan is life and experience open and honest in a way that Jane is not. Dan is forced to find meaning and significance, while Jane’s cynicism will not permit her to be exposed like that. At the start of their relationship, this gap in worldview begins to show a real hindrance and if they want to spend a life together, they have to somehow work around this gap.
While Caraway and Siepser play the two leads of the film, they have to do all the heavy lifting by themselves, and I mean all of it. There are only a handful of speaking parts and they are rather minor, being the sort of characters who get listed near the very end credits as the boy the girl outside a coffee shop, etc. These two actors do have a certain warmth and a nice connection that blends well with their growing relationship. They both manage to strike an effective balance with extended monologues where they feel as though they are over-acting. The two actors are travelers who we wouldn’t mind going on a long road trip with.
There is not much else that takes place in the film. West of Her virtually consists of two youthful good-looking individuals having in-depth conversations against some famous American backdrops. That isn’t a criticism against the film. The locations were captured by the cinematography of Cameron Bryson in all of their glory. Mount Rushmore, The Grand Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, the Four Corners, and even Phoenix and Memphis make an appearance in the movie, and let’s just say that they do not look bad at all. The film’s crew certainly got around, with some reports saying that they drove over 3700 miles in the making of the movie.
Dan and Jane’s road trip comes with a soundtrack of folk and bluegrass that is taken from the Smithsonian’s Folkways recording. This, along with the diners, motels, ghost towns, and other places of interest Dan and Jane have visited, contributes to the overall Americana feel of the film. The title of the film is derived from the lyrics of John Ritter’s song ‘Roll On’.
Warren’s directorial debut with West of Her is not half bad. He has a good sense of design and knows when to cut. As has been said, the film isn’t very action-packed, but Warren seems to have his way with the story. I wasn’t bored at any point. That might not be the world’s best pull quote, but considering the film’s sparse screenplay, I’d say it’s impressive. West of Her is just one among many road trip movies where the protagonists go through a journey across America and learn something about themselves in the process. It earns its keep as a road trip destination movie due to its willingness to stop and appreciate the beauty of the scenery we’re whizzing past.
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