Release Date: November 10th, 2006

Lucy is a 30-something woman who keeps waking up with a stiff hangover and a guy she doesn't even want to look at. If coming to grips with why she keeps repeating this pattern isn't enough, Lucy also begins to realize that she needs to get in touch with her familial past and, more importantly, with the person she has become.

Thesp Joey Lauren Adams ("Chasing Amy") makes her feature writing-directing debut with "Come Early Morning," a film that feels half therapeutic exercise and half the sort of low-key down-home regional drama that was a U.S. indie staple a couple of decades back. Coming full circle in a sense from her original Sundance breakthrough with "Ruby in Paradise," Ashley Judd confidently plays a Southern woman who urgently needs to pull her life together. But, despite her efforts and those of a generally talented cast, pic just pokes along and offers nothing out of the ordinary in terms of drama, characterization or insight. Judd's presence notwithstanding, this one would be more at home on small- than on bigscreens.

A competent Arkansas construction contractor by day, Judd's Lucy is a wild, drunken woman by night, specializing in one-night stands. With a family legacy of boozing and infidelity, Lucy is challenged by newcomer Cal (Jeffrey Donovan, who deftly endows his good ol' boy with unexpected sensitivity) to have a sober, sustained relationship, but it's tough. Writing and directing are elementary, and even ace indie lenser Tim Orr can do little to supply visual distinction.

Starring: Ashley Judd, Laura Prepon, Tim Blake Nelson, Diane Ladd, Jeffrey Donovan 
Directed by: Joey Lauren Adams 
Produced by: Gary Walters, Dan Grodnik, Julie Silverman-Yorn (II)