The film DOWNTOWN OWL stars acclaimed film, TV and Broadway actress Lily Rabe who also co-directed with her husband Hamish Linklater. Rabe is best known for starring in the FX anthology "American Horror Story" and on Broadway in "Merchant of Venice". She is a captivating actress who makes the most of her roles. Here she is especially winning as Julia, the befuddled new high school teacher in a rural North Dakota town in the early 80s. Julia is taking a semester break from her husband as she acclimates to the weather and eccentricities of small town life and its locals. The film has a "Northern Exposure" sitcom humor, the melodrama of a marriage unraveling, high jinx high school football team antics and the vile, improper teacher/student relationship. Julia receives the school principal's orientation to the block long town which has a closing movie theater, partial grocery store, chummy diner and popular bar. The cartoon illustration of the town's main strip sets a comic tone which continues through the school as Julia is eyed lasciviously by male students and with resentment by female students. A few of the students that standout are Eli, (a worldly wise Jack Dylan Grazer) and Tina (Arden Michalec). Tina is known to be pregnant with the coach's baby. A delightful surprise comes in the role of Naomi (Vanessa Hodges) a fellow teacher who befriends Julia on day one and becomes her nightly drinking/dancing buddy. The always excellent Ed Harris plays Horace, the town's wizened sage who also befriends and mentors Julia. Julia is smitten by Vance (Henry Golding) and flirts shamelessly who appears sporadically at the local pub. These fragmented characters along with the comedy and drama all mesh surprisingly well together as they build towards a climatic, deadly blizzard. The scenes where Julia is speaking on the phone to her estranged husband and to her father are particularly potent. We observe her dependence on her dad and her distancing from her spouse with vested interest. The handling of improper student/teacher relations is disturbing and dealt with unsatisfactorily. But, it feels realistic in this ND town. The high school students all look as if they should've graduated from college and little time is spent within the classroom. However, the minor characters and plot lines are not going to be on the final exam. The final is focused on the central character's journey. And, the final grade for DOWNTOWN OWL is B+ because Rabe offers a master class in acting.
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