While she's struggling with her lines in some scenes, Stewart pulls it off and is certainly expertly cast. I can't imagine what 18-year-old would've been a better candidate for the role of runaway stripper Mallory. Something about that gritty face, that strikingly unglamorous attitude, that hint of tomboyism in her looks, voice, and mannerisms, that works like magic.She drapes her character with subtle neurotic tendencies and seemingly improvised facial expressions, and when she lets loose, there's no stopping her. The amount of profanity borders on being intolerable, but is brought with such convincing teenage angst that it avoids turning cheap.The pace of the film is relaxed without getting tardy, although I did get the impression you only get to really know the characters when the story draws to a close, as if you're watching a pilot episode.The epilogue disappoints doubly as it presents a somewhat forced positive outlook, something the film is in no need of. While it is clear how plot events might have served as a catalyst for improvement in the lives of troubled married couple Gandolfini and Leo, Stewart changes from self-destructive hooker to neat schoolgirl, from one scene to the next, and nothing lingers to explain any bit of that transformation.I read that director Jake Scott didn't inherit every one of his father's movie genes, but there are similarities that shouldn't go unnoticed: here we have a plot that falls short when evaluated critically, especially in terms of credibility and logical sense, yet I found its aesthetic presentation, acting performances, and profuse melancholy too addictive to even want to think about the story anymore... a liberating experience I've come to love about most of Ridley's movies, anyway.

Poor Kristen Stewart hasn't had an easy ride in the popular press. First she's constantly linked with - the pretty one-dimensional - Bella Swann from the Twilight franchise and then she gets her love-life in a tangle and everyone takes R-Patz' side.Somewhere, amid the mess of her personal life, she got round to making 'Welcome to the Riley's,' with Sopranos star James Gandolfini. Sadly, not enough people seemed to notice. It was an 'indie' film that never really got much of a mainstream release, therefore she remained 'Bella' in the press' eyes all the way through this.However, if you can give her a chance, you may get more than an hour and a half of her holding her mouth open and refusing to smile. James Gandolfini gives a - naturally - great performance as a man who had lost his teenage daughter in a car accident. On a work trip he gives his colleagues the slip and takes refuge in a strip club where he meets Kristen Stewart, who he beings a - plutonic - relationship with, treating her like a surrogate daughter.That's about it as far as the plot goes. At first (the beginning twenty minutes) I was pretty disinterested and was wondering what I got into. However, I was very pleased with how it transpired. It's actually quite a tender story of emotionally damaged people coming together.It's certainly not a laugh a minute and is the sort of film that you have to be in quite a deep, reflective, thoughtful mood to really appreciate (or just want to see Kristen Stewart not surrounded by computer generated monsters).Nice film. Give it a try.

Doug Riley (James Gandolfini) is in a desolate marriage with his wife Lois (Melissa Leo). They have been that way since their 15 year old daughter Emily was killed in a car accident. Doug goes on a business trip to New Orleans and he befriends stripper Allison (Kristen Stewart). He tries to be a father figure to her.I have difficulty determining whether it's gritty and realistic or horribly tripe and contrived. I'm leaning toward contrived but I am still willing to like it. All three leads do good acting. Kristen Steward is her usual angry rebellious self. Of course she's tough but yet vulnerable. Gandolfini is a little bit less emoting. He's playing a kind of father-knows-best character. Melissa Leo absolutely hits it out of the park. She's barely holding it together at times. Then she shifts effortlessly into mother hen mode. She is the jewel of the movie.

It's a tough balancing act - trying to be both sad and hopeful at the same time. "Welcome To The Rileys" tries to pull that tough balancing act off - and for the most parts it succeeds admirably. It's about troubled people and the tentative relationships they have with one another. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo are the Rileys - Doug and Lois. Several years before the events of this movie their 15 year old daughter Emily (their only child) was killed in a car accident. They've never really been able to put the pieces back together. Their life is empty and shallow; their relationship is practically non-existent. Lois is heavily medicated and can't even leave the house; Doug goes from work to his weekly poker game and has managed to develop a relationship with a local waitress on the side. Then she dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and Doug just wants out. At a convention in New Orleans, he meets Mallory (or Allison), played by Kristen Stewart. Mallory is a teen stripper and hooker, and she reminds Doug of Emily. He bonds with her (as far as that's possible) and takes care of her, while at the same time telling Lois that he's not coming home. Meanwhile, Lois finally decides she wants Doug back and travels to New Orleans. The three of them cautiously try to make this unusual relationship work.A big part of me looked at this with suspicious eyes - it's really not that believable. I'd love to believe that there are wonderful men out there just looking for an opportunity to help a teen prostitute without taking advantage of them. Unfortunately, the relationship between Mallory and Doug wasn't believable to me, and that was the biggest weakness of the movie. I understand that everyone in this is hurt and hurting, and maybe I can see hurting people latching on to each other, but I just didn't buy the relationship. I couldn't be Doug. I could see myself wanting to help a teen prostitute get her life together, but I couldn't see myself moving in with her and taking care of her, all the while watching her go off on her various "dates." That would drive me crazy. Doug's either a better man than I am or he's just an unrealistic character. I tend to think the latter.Having said that, I was able to get around my disbelief by simply watching the story and the characters. It's interesting; they're interesting. The performances from those three leads are very good, and you have an interesting mix of emotions as you watch this relationship evolve. You root for everyone. You want things to work out. In the back of your mind, you kind of hope that Mallory goes to Indianapolis with Doug and Lois, lives with them, becomes a second daughter to them and everyone lives happily ever after. On the other hand, you really don't want that because it would be too much of a fairy tale. The movie does well to avoid the fairy tale.Eventually, Mallory runs away, and as desperate as Doug is to save her, he's finally brought back to earth by Lois's gentle reminder: "Doug, she's not Emily." No. She's not. The movie ends on something of an ambiguous note. Doug and Lois go home, Mallory heads off to Vegas to continue her "career." They maintain contact, but how things will work out in the end for any of them is left very much as an open question. I liked that ambiguous ending. It was very much in keeping with a movie whose credibility stretched the limits a bit."Welcome To The Rileys" is a slow-paced movie; a very human drama. It doesn't unfold quickly. For all that (and for the overall air of unreality) I have to say (somewhat to my surprise) that I really enjoyed watching it. In its own way it's very moving to watch people who need help and people who want help trying to help each other, but not really being able to break through the barriers that a lifetime of troubles have erected. (8/10)