Safelight

Capable acting isn't enough to rescue this well-meaning but slow and sappy romantic triangle flick involving a high school boy with a disability, a young prostitute with the proverbial heart of gold, and her volatile pimp. Evan Peters plays Charles, a talented photographer with a game leg who is constantly being bullied by three thuggish classmates. Charles, who also watches helplessly as his kindly father (Jason Beghe) gradually wastes away from cancer, earns money by working at the truck stop owned by a supportive family friend (Christine Lahti). Here, a young prostitute named Vicki (Juno Temple) can also be found turning tricks under the watchful eye of her brutal pimp/boyfriend, Skid (Kevin Alejandro). One night, Charles defends Vicki against Skid, earning her gratitude, and she offers to drive him along the California coast to photograph lighthouses for a school project. During the trip the pair grow close, but when Charles later again intervenes to protect Vicki from Skid, she is forced to make a split-second decision. The performances in Safelight are actually quite good—Peters and Temple both project a touching vulnerability—but writer-director Tony Aloupis's so-so screenplay and listless direction sabotages the young actors. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)