The Yellow Handkerchief: A Southern Gothic Road Trip

By Sarah Beardsley
Published: March 12th, 2010 | 9:00am

I admit it. I was prepared not to buy Kristen Stewart as a 15-year-old grasping at the kindness of strangers on a road trip through Louisiana. The Yellow Handkerchief tells the story of four people searching for love and connection. This tight cast, including William Hurt, Kristen Stewart, Maria Bello, and Eddie Redmayne, filmed Handkerchief back in 2008. That may explain how Stewart brings innocence and freshness to her role—this was before her days being mobbed by screaming Twi-hards.

Hurt, Redmayne, and Stewart find themselves wandering through bayous that are as shrouded in mystery as their characters' true feelings and personal histories. As the miles roll on, each begins to disclose the pains that drove them to the road, forging unlikely connections between them. Director Udayan Prasad reveals the twists and surprises slowly enough that the audience experiences all of the self-discovery right alongside these lost semi-lost souls.

The Yellow Handkerchief is a sweet, subtle, worthy afternoon diversion. Hurt, who so often oozes smarmy creepiness, gives a performance not unlike Jeff Bridges' in Crazy Heart: authentic, unglamorous, believable. And Bello leaves vanity behind to show us how a tough, competent woman gets by on her own—and how letting love in changes everything. Ultimately, the film plays as a fable of longing and redemption.