Films like this have a way of finding their own devoted fan base, and Gypsy 83 deserves to be discovered not only by Goth and gay crowds, but by anyone who runs screaming from all things average.

Karen Black gives her sharpest performance in years as Bambi LeBleau, a roadside-dive karaoke hostess who invites the kids back to her house for a night of booze and lounge classics.

They are tremendously appealing, and under Stephens' direction, Anson Scoville as an Amish runaway and Paulo Costanzo as a closeted gay college fraternity man are also memorable.

Stephens has a gentle touch and an unflagging sense of humor, but this is Rue's show: She's a natural with a million-dollar smile who deserves to escape TV land for more interesting work.

Only slightly less awkward than its young protagonists, Todd Stephens' earnest coming-of-age drama is able to coast a long way on two engaging performances and some endearing moments.

Rue plays her with just the right combination of sweetness, sexuality and sass.

This offering is a mostly undistinguished addition to the long list of films about alienated and self-pitying young people.

This is a tiny, vulnerable, rather treacly film at heart, one that would probably float away were it not for Ms. Rue's generous presence.

Couldn't be less involving and more sentimentalized.

A surprisingly pragmatic take on the joys and perils of diva worship, Gypsy 83 has as many emotional ups and downs as its protagonists' road trip: Emerging love interests threaten to disrupt the delicate goth boy/fag hag balance, only to fade after the glitter.

The outsider road picture Gypsy 83 means well, but writer-director Todd Stephens can't keep his aesthetic out of the way.

A depressingly predictable journey of self-discovery.