Chloe Moretz To Star In Hick

How many juicy roles are there for unbearably precocious young actresses like Chloe Moretz? Not as many as you'd think, which makes a star turn in an adaptation of a novel about " a 13-year-old Nebraska girl who gets more than she bargained for when she runs away to Las Vegas" seem like a pretty good idea. So Moretz is signing a deal to star in Hick, based on the novel of the same name by Andrea Portes.

Variety says that Derick Martini, director and co-writer of Lymelife, is set to direct the film. Portes adapted the script herself. I haven't read Portes, but Lymelife –with its own teen perspective on the dangers and failings of the American Dream — is enough evidence that Martini is a good pick to direct, and with Moretz could make something memorable out of the material. There are elements of Hick's story that, if handled properly, could provide a particularly nightmarish parallel tale to Hit Girl's story in Kick-Ass.

Here's the Publishers Weekly rundown of the novel, with a second paragraph full of what some might consider spoilers:

Portes's chilling debut tracks a 13-year-old Nebraska girl's hard-going life on the road. Young Luli knows losers—her "aging Brigitte Bardot" mother, Tammy, and her father, Nick, go at each other every night at the Alibi, the watering hole in hometown Palmyra, Neb. Tammy runs away one morning, and Nick soon follows, leaving Luli alone at home with the Smith and Wesson .45 her Uncle Nipper gave her. Pistol in tow, she hitches rides heading west to Vegas.

A crooked man (literally; he "looks like an italic," says smart-alecky Luli) named Eddie picks her up briefly before throwing her out of the car. Next comes cocaine-snorting grifter Glenda, who enlists Luli as an accessory to a robbery that goes awry. Glenda takes Luli under her wing. The two cross paths again with Eddie, who rapes Luli and ties her up in a secluded motel. Glenda comes to her rescue, but the confrontation with Eddie ends badly. Luli's flippant narration makes for a love-it or hate-it read.