Carrie Pilby

Credit goes to Powley for elevating this dramedy from a standard-issue coming-of-age story to one that's more complex -- or at least one that attempts to be. Her Carrie feels like a real person struggling to figure out how to be a person, despite what turns out to be some pretty hefty baggage shaped by real struggles. Nonetheless, the movie gives considerable weight to an ill-advised -- and unequal -- relationship that develops while Carrie is in college but manages to gloss over a profound loss that happens long before that and could very well have shaped it. And that ends up stripping some gravity from the film that it could have used. 

Much is made in the film of Carrie's smarts, but her brilliance is used more as a device than as a true foundation for making the character more multi-layered. After all, Powley's talent as an actress can't make up for a flimsy script and underwritten characters. It's a shame, as Carrie -- and Carrie Pilby -- deserved better.