''Permanent'' is a 2017 American comedy film written and directed by Colette Burson and starring

Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include '' True Romance'' (1993), '' Ed ...

and Rainn Wilson.

Plot

The film is set in the early 1980s in small town

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. Aurelie is the new girl in town, having recently relocated from Washington D.C. with her parents Jim (a former steward for Air Force One) and Jeanne. Jim is attending college on a scholarship to become a physician while Jeanne, now the breadwinner, works at the local chicken shack. Aurelie asks her parents if she can have a permanent to fit in with the "Farrah Fawcett" types in town. Her parents finally relent and take her to a local beauty school to get her hair processed at a discount. The result is disastrous, making Aurelie look more like orphan Annie than Farrah. She starts school and is immediately teased by everyone. She tries to befriend the only black girl in school, Lydia, but is rebuffed. Aurelie furthers her unpopularity by overly participating in class and is frequently bullied by a group of popular girls. Aurelie reluctantly takes a karate class in order to defend herself. She sees a sign on another beauty shop in town that advertises permanent fixes for $60 and resolves to make the money. Eventually the school holds a poetry reading contest, with a top prize of $75. Aurelie signs up herself and Lydia. Lydia initially does not want to participate. During the poetry contest she panics and recites the lyrics to "

Feeling Good "Feeling Good" (also known as "Feelin' Good") is a song written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical ''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd''. It was first performed on stage in 1964 by Cy Gr ...

" instead of her assigned poem. Meanwhile, Aurelie is confronted by the popular girls. She uses her karate training to defeat the girls and returns to the contest to see that Lydia has been announced the winner. Lydia offers Aurelie the money to fix her hair, and Aurelie declines saying that she no longer cares. Jim, who wears a hairpiece, has been told by his college counselor that he must take a swimming class in order to receive his scholarship. He returns to the pool several times but cannot bring himself to put his head underwater or be seen without his hairpiece. Jeanne fills unfulfilled by her new life. Jim is unresponsive to her sexual advances, again stating he does not want to ruin his hairpiece or take it off. Jeanne instead becomes emotionally involved with their neighbor Jerry, who volunteers to teach her to be an artist and to help with family counseling. He reveals his true intentions when he comments on her breasts. During a family counseling session, Jim affirms his love and commitment to Jeanne. The film ends with Jim, Jeanne, and Aurelie at the school pool. Jim climbs the high dive, tosses his hairpiece off, and dives into the pool.

Cast

as Jeanne Dickson * Rainn Wilson as Jim Dickson *Kira McLean as Aurelie Dickson *Jacqueline Jones as Maylene (Beautician) *

Michael Greene Michael Harris Greene (November 4, 1933 – January 10, 2020) was an American actor who was active from the 1960s through the 1990s. Career Greene was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Gladys () and Harry Greene. Early in his caree ...

as Jerry (The Therapist) *Sean Ramey as Pete (Martial Arts instructor) *Nena Daniels as Lydia *Abby Wathen as Mrs. Tripp *Katherine S. Wright as Ginger-Ale (Druggie) *Grey Garrett as the Tutor *Devin Albert as Son *Elainey Bass as Cafeteria Kid

Production

The film was shot in

Reception

The film has a 38% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Michael Ordona of Common Sense Media awarded the film three stars out of five. Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com awarded the film two stars.

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, permanent American comedy films Films shot in Virginia 2010s English-language films 2010s American films