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Digging to China

Digging to China

Drama · 1997

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

Movie details

Digging to China

“Two innocent outcasts. One incredible friendship.”

1997 Drama 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Digging to China?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Timothy Hutton

Written by

Karen Janszen

Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood

Harriet Frankovitz

Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon

Ricky Schroth

Mary Stuart Masterson

Mary Stuart Masterson

Gwen Frankovitz

Marian Seldes

Marian Seldes

Leah Schroth

Cathy Moriarty

Cathy Moriarty

Mrs. Frankovitz

Bing Putney

Bing Putney

Eric

J

Joanne Pankow

Nurse

Court is in session

Put Digging to China on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.