Couch Potato's DVD Pickings: Bloomington - A former child star, an alleged vampire, and a disappointingly short-lived affair

Bloomington, Allison McAtee

Imagine if Miley 'Hannah Montana'  Cyrus or Miranda 'iCarly' Cosgrove turned up at college to try and sit for a degree.

Before they could crack on with some serious studying they'd have to field questions about their child star years. Forming genuine friendships would be fraught with complexities, and at what point would the mockery stop? Let's face it, if you're going to inflict your precocious screen personality on households for years, you have to pay some sort of price.

Bloomington, SarahStouffer

This is where former child star star Jackie (Sarah Stouffer) finds herself in relationship drama Bloomington. She shows up at the Indiana college of the title to escape her old California life and get down to serious study. But, inevitably, her fellow students are too distracted by her well-known TV show persona to treat her as one of their own - and it doesn't help that she's been granted certain privileges because of her star status.

Nevertheless, the quietly confident Jackie manages to weather the inevitable interrogations as well as the jibes. And it helps that her study group have another target for their mockery - in the form of beautiful psychology professor Catherine (Allison McAtee). According to the gossipy youngsters, this enigmatic academic beds all her female students and then they disappear. Oh, and maybe she's also a vampire...

Bloomington, AllisonMcAtee

So, are any of these rumours based in fact?

Well, it looks like there might be some truth to them when pretty prof Catherine swoops in for a smooch with cute blonde Jackie after less than five minutes smalltalk. At this point she certainly seems the predatory type. And, being a psychology lecturer, she knows exactly what to do to get under Jackie's skin (and clothes).

Bloomington, Allison McAtee, Sarah Stouffer

Now, it's up to the point where this pair are getting it on - developing a mutually dependant relationship - that this movie, directed by Fernanda Cardoso, holds the interest.

Bloomington, Sarah Stouffer, Allison McAtee

For a start, both actresses are nice looking which helps. And then there are so many unanswered questions. What tragedy has coloured Jackie's young life? Why is her relationship with her mother so stormy? Who was the fellow actress she bedded while working on her show? And, why did all of Catherine's former lovers disappear? What terrible character trait does she have that drives them away. Could it be that she really is a vampire?

Unfortunately, as the film moves forward - breezing past all the doors to these exciting plot possibilities - the viewer is left with a  somewhat disappointing latter half.

I won't spoil the story, but let's just say that circumstances conspire to come between these two women and take them in unexpected directions. It's a disappointing turn of events and a poor substitute for the possibilities that could've been. Without any decent forays into the characters' pasts, it's difficult to care about their futures.

By the time Bloomington ended, I personally felt dissatisfied and shortchanged. I'd been lured in with the promised of juicy plots and then presented with little to satisfy my appetite.

I actually wish Catherine had been a vampire - at least then the film would have had more bite.

Released by TLA Releasing on DVD on 11th July.

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