THE OFF HOURS: sad people in a diner

Local director Megan Griffiths has been developing THE OFF HOURS film for over five years. She wrote in in 2007 and has been trying to raise a budget ever since, a year ago she decided to scrap the budget and just make it with way less. In the end she may not have needed a bigger budget because THE OFF HOURS,  is a great small film about small people.
It is the story of Francine, a young waitress who works at a diner next to a truck stop in a small, going nowhere type of town. She lives with her foster brother and spends her time working, drinking and having sex with almost every guy who shows interest. Of course, Francine wants out, and when she meets a handsome truck driver who has an intelligence not found much in her world, she begins to see the world outside of the town.
The strength of THE OFF HOURS is largely the great performances. Amy Seimetz as Francine carries the film well. She gives a wonderful natural performance with lots of repressed emotions playing just beneath the surface. The rest of the cast does their part to keep the characters real and I give huge props to the costume department who do a great job of making everyone look like they live in a poor, small town. Tony Doupe (a local and very talented actor) is also good as the heartbreaking alcoholic owner of the bar, who has almost lost his daughter to his drinking but keeps messing up when he has a chance to prove himself to both her and his ex wife.
The movie is subtle, and in it we see the growth of Francine without any overly dramatic scenes. The cinematography is great, the score is decent, the sound is a little weak, but I am not positive it was the movie, perhaps just a poor theater, but I found some of the dialog hard to understand. Luckily it is a quit movie, so it wasn't a very noticeable problem.
Overall, THE OFF OURS is a strong character piece, and well directed. It left me slightly underwhelmed because it is somewhat flat, most of the characters are already so set in their ways nothing really changes for them, but it captures that very well, so maybe that is intended?