Love Lies Bleeding * * *

Jackie and Lou.  Got muscles, a pickup truck and a shovel.  

I found this film to be a bit disappointing to be honest.

It's set in the late 80's and has the cars, bad haircuts, oversized clothes and absence of mobile phones to match.  It also shows a time of body obsession and the time when women also started competing in bodybuilding competitions. 

Kirsten Stewart plays Lou, a dogsbody at a tin-shed gym.  Opening up and locking up, taking the membership fees, taking the trash out, and cleaning the blocked toilets - it's all down to her.  She comes across as bit of a loner.  We also catch on she is gay, especially when Jackie blows into town. 

Jackie is doing it rough.  Sleeping in cars or wherever she can.  She has a superb physique and is keen to participate in the upcoming competition in Vegas.  She and Lou fall for each other pretty quickly.

The backstory is about Lou's family. Her sister who is a victim of DV but still loves her husband and her father who is up to some illegal activities.  Jackie needs a job and finds herself working for Lou's father at the local gun club.

When Lou's sister receives ten punches too many from her vile husband and ends up in hospital, Lou and Jackie take action. Perhaps a little too much action.  Then more action is required to cover up their previous action.  You know how it goes.

There is some good acting and a fine recreation of the period,

It's a fun ride from time to time, but can also be a bit tedious as it lurches from romance, to gore, to thriller, to  murder mystery, and finally to comedy when it weirdly references popular films from the era it is set in.  For me, none of this came across as well planned so much as an overworked script which lacked self-assuredness.