I didn't buy either of those actors as white trash. I like Matt Dillon, but as others have said, he doesn't have much range. Meanwhile, the lady dated a psychotic pill pusher previously, and the guy, even when healthy, gambled his good job money away.These are not the problems of the "working poor," per say. These are the problems of white trash. Not all working poor date psychos, and not all handicapped types spend their days officiating sack races and guzzling booze.The working poor do struggle, but they usually do so in more dignity, make efforts to improve their habits, and purchase condoms. These people did contribute to their own destitution in substantial ways. America did not do it to them. If the lady film maker feels that it's America's fault, wouldn't she have to blame the Leftist Messiah who had eight years to solve this stuff?Having said all that, I did buy the convenience store workers and the motel dwellers. They all seemed real. There just was not enough character development or original challenges, to keep me interested. At least in that Netflix show Justified, characters went deep into introspection and contemplated the nature of life and God.

SPOILERS: Unfairly perhaps, I would have much preferred Melissa, after the grievous abortion, to realize that every man in her life was a loser and to resolve to go it alone once her health was regained. I also would have rated 'Sunlight Jr.' another point but for a bad use by the screenwriters of poetic license: We know she's penniless but somehow manages to get an ultra-sound exam, see a pediatrician and to top it off, obtain an abortion. As you all too well know, medical technicians and particularly doctors aren't in it for humanitarian reasons.

Watching the love scenes in this movie, as the two navigate through squalor so they can enjoy the only thing that really matters, is something that I think anyone can relate to. The acting from Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon is pretty amazing. It's worth it to watch this film just to catch them at their mature adult acting prime.Throughout the film there's a nagging hint that a tragedy is right around the corner, and it is, sort of. But it ends up just being another bunch of stuff they have to work through in their already insanely difficult lives. They transcend it and survive, once again, wrapped in each other's arms. A typical ending but it makes a solid statement about love.Really a pleasure to watch. Certainly not fast paced but evenly edited. The street scenes of Clearwater Florida are spot on with their array of strange weirdos and junkies.

"We got a plan and we're taking care of our business, but it's been stressful." Melissa (Watts) is a convenience store clerk who lives in a motel with her paraplegic boyfriend Richie (Dillon). She hates her job and Richie is struggling with his troubles trying to take care of her. When Melissa finds out she is pregnant what starts out as extreme happiness begins to change. The troubles at her job and the motel begin to wear on them. This is a perfect example of a movie that is just OK but when you add great actors to them it makes it much better then it could have been. This is just another "how much worse can things get" type movie but because of Watts and Dillon you truly care about the characters and root for them against all odds. You feel for the struggles they go through and as the movie goes on you feel as beaten down as they do. This is not a happy movie at all but it does feel very real and that is the sign of a good movie, it makes you feel things emotionally. Overall, a movie that is worth seeing but very depressing and you feel like you have been emotionally beaten at the end of it, much like you feel after watching Precious. I give this a B.