David F. Morgan's "City Baby" is a modest character study of one Cloey (Cora Benesh, who also co-wrote the screenplay), an aspiring...something, boldly going nowhere. With her father (Daniel Baldwin) footing the bills without question, Cloey is free to pursue her relationship with aging rock star-wannabe Jesse (Andrew Harris) as she perpetually despairs over her life in Portland. When a blown audition call leads to a meet-cute with Michael (Richard Keith), a considerably more on-point ad exec, Cloey juggles competing feelings while attempting to come into her own as a twenty-something layabout. Yes, it's a story that's been told half to death in the last decade or so, but Morgan never lets it get too portentous and Benesh leads a strong cast while turning in a strong performance that's only somewhat undone by an tidy ending that feels out of step with the rest of the film. Despite our impression of the fine city of Portland having been irrevocably tainted by "Portlandia," "City Baby"...
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