History Film / Tennessee

* AmbiguouslyBrown: At one point, Krystal holds up a childhood picture of her where she's next to her clearly Black father, but without her mother. Despite being played by a mixed race actress, we never find out if Krystal herself is also mixed race, or is a Black woman who just happens to be really light skinned.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Of course Ellis, who is arguably the kindest and purest of the cast, [[spoiler: died from his leukemia.]]

''Tennessee'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Aaron Woodley, featuring Creator/EthanPeck, Creator/AdamRothenburg, and Music/{{Mariah Carey}}. The film follows Carter (Rothenburg) and Ellis Armstrong (Peck), two brothers who grew up with and eventually fled their abusive father alongside their mother. Now in their adulthood, and a few years after their mother's death, Ellis comes down with terminal leukemia, which prompts Carter to take them both back to their home state of Tennessee in hopes of finding their estranged father so he can donate his bone marrow to save Ellis's life. Along the way, they meet the beautiful waitress Krystal Evans (Carey), an aspiring singer who longs to get away from her abusive husband Frank so she can be free to pursue a life of singing.

''Tennessee'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Aaron Woodley, featuring Ethan Peck, Adam Rothenburg, and Music/{{Mariah Carey}}. The film follows Carter (Rothenburg) and Ellis Armstrong (Peck), two brothers who grew up with and eventually fled their abusive father alongside their mother. Now in their adulthood, and a few years after their mother's death, Ellis comes down with terminal leukemia, which prompts Carter to take them both back to their home state of Tennessee in hopes of finding their estranged father so he can donate his bone marrow to save Ellis's life. Along the way, they meet the beautiful waitress Krystal Evans (Carey), an aspiring singer who longs to get away from her abusive husband Frank so she can be free to pursue a life of singing.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't know if Krystal is biracial like [[Music/{{Mariah Carey}} her actress]]. The police report heard on the radio describes Krystal as a "black female with blonde hair", so it's likely that she's a fully African-American woman, or Krystal really ''is'' biracial, but remnants of the [[OneDropRule one-drop rule]] are in effect.

''Tennessee'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Aaron Woodley, featuring Ethan Peck, Adam Rothenburg, and Music/{{Mariah Carey}}. The film follows Carter (Rothenburg) and Ellis Armstrong (Peck), two brothers who grew up with and eventually fled their abusive father alongside their mother. Now in their adulthood, and a few years after their mother's death, Ellis comes down with terminal leukemia, which prompts Carter to take them both back to their home state of Tennessee in hopes of finding their estranged father so he can donate his bone marrow to save Ellis' life. Along the way, they meet the beautiful waitress Krystal Evans (Carey), an aspiring singer who longs to get away from her abusive husband Frank so she can be free to pursue a life of singing.

* CarChase: Carter, Ellis, and Krystal swap her '67 Mustang for a cheaper car so they can evade the Frank, who is a cop. They eventually get into a somewhat lengthy car chase, which ends with the trio abandoning the car and hopping onto a train that happens to be going to Tennessee.

''Tennessee'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Aaron Woodley, featuring Ethan Peck, Adam Rothenburg, and Music/{{Mariah Carey}}. The film follows Carter (Rothenburg) and Ellis Armstrong (Peck), two brothers who grew up with and eventually fled their abusive father alongside their mother. Now in their adulthood, and a few years after their mother's death, Ellis comes down with terminal leukemia, which prompts Carter to take them both back to their home state of Tennessee in hopes of finding their estranged father so he can donate his bone marrow to save Ellis' life. Along the way they meet the beautiful waitress Krystal Evans (Carey), an aspiring singer who longs to get away from her abusive husband Frank so she can be free to pursue a life of singing.

** Ron was horrid example of this, as his frequent alcoholism led him to heavily abuse his family.

* ExtremeDoormat: Krystal puts up with Frank's abuse just so she doesn't infuriate him further. However, she'll sometimes at stand up to him, albeit unsuccessfully.

* KarmaHoudini: Aside from a beating from Carter, their father Ron never gets any real comeuppance for the many years of abusing his family. As if emphasize this, a newspaper clipping showing [[spoiler: Ron's obituary claims that he passed away peacefully, and is now buried under a decent tombstone at a church cemetery.]] However, Carter's passive reaction to this serves to show that he's finally made peace with his past.

* MissingMom: Carter and Ellis' mother had died a few short years before the events of the film.

* HeelFaceRealization: Frank, upon helping reunite a young couple at a bar while searching for Krystal, sees the look of terror in the woman's eyes, and silently realizes that his atrocious behaviour is to blame for Krystal running out on him. [[spoiler: When he finally tracks her down at a bar where she's performing "Right to Dream", he stays long enough to listen to her song, then silently gets up and leaves, deciding to let his wife go.]]

* DomesticAbuse: What Krystal goes through while living with Frank. He frequently has his gang-banging friends over, and forces Krystal to spend her already meager pay (including tips) to buy food and alcohol for them, and is heavily implied to beat her if she puts up any objections.

* HeelFaceTurn: Frank, upon helping reunite a young couple at a bar while searching for Krystal, sees the look of terror in the woman's eyes, and silently realizes that his atrocious behaviour is to blame for Krystal running out on him. [[spoiler: When he finally tracks her down at a bar where she's performing "Right to Dream", he stays long enough to listen to her song, then silently gets up and leaves, deciding to let his wife go.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Aside from Ellis and Krystal, everyone else shown has varying shades of this.

** Carter: White male
** Ellis: Terminally ill white male
** Krystal: African-American female

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't know if Krystal is biracial like [[Music/{{Mariah Carey}} her actress]]. Though the police report heard on the radio describes Krystal Evans as a "black female with blonde hair", so it's likely that Carey here is portraying a fully African-American woman, or Krystal really ''is'' biracial, but is being described by [[OneDropRule her most visible race]].

** Krystal: African-American female

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't know if Krystal is biracial like [[Music/{{Mariah Carey}} her actress]]. Though the police report heard on the radio describes Krystal Evans as a "black female with blonde hair", so it's likely that Carey here is portraying a fully African-American woman. That, or Krystal really ''is'' biracial, but is being described by [[OneDropRule her most visible race]].

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't know if Krystal is biracial like [[Music/{{Mariah Carey}} her actress]]. Though the police report heard on the radio describes Krystal Evans as a "black female with blonde hair", so it's likely that Carey here is portraying a fully African-American woman.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't know if Krystal is biracial like [[Music/{{Mariah Carey}} her actress]]. Though the police report heard on the radio describes Krystal Evans as a "black female with blonde hair", so it's likely that Carey here is portraying a fully African-American woman. [[note]] A small problem here is that, since race is heavily associated with visible skin colour, it's unknown how the police will expect the public to actively look out for a black woman who is not only VERY light-skinned, but who's played by someone who's part white. [[/note]]

* AMinorKidroduction: Played with. Carter is first shown as a teenager in his final year of high school, while Ellis is shown to be a small child of about ten years old.

* CopChase: Carter, Ellis, and Krystal swap her '67 Mustang for a cheaper car so they can evade the Frank, who is a cop. They eventually get into a somewhat lengthy car chase, which ends with the trio abandoning the car and hopping onto a train that happens to be going to Tennessee.

* DomesticAbuse: What Krystal goes through while living with Frank. He frequently has his gang-banging friends over, and forces Krystal to spend her already meager pay (including tips) to buy food and alcohol for them, and is heavily implied to beat her if she puts up any objections.