near the water. When she walks over to say hi, his wife Delia invites her to join them. When Mr. Auster is not paying attention, Delia makes a comment to Meg that hints that their marriage is troubled. Later, Mr. Auster walks alone with Meg on the beach and kisses her. They go to a hotel room, where Meg reluctantly has sex with Mr. Auster. He stops after realizing that she is not comfortable with the situation. Meg learns that Mr. Auster has not written a novel at all, and that it was all just a ruse to impress her. At the competition the following day, Meg leaves her "Blue Car" poem on her chair when she is called to the mic. She recites a new poem in which she subtly denounces Mr. Auster for manipulating her and abusing his authority. In the audience, Mr. Auster and his wife look visibly uncomfortable. After finishing her reading, Meg leaves the auditorium, and, later on the beach alone, she throws the old poem into the water. Meg returns to Ohio and goes to Diane’s apartment, where she has an emotional reconciliation with her mother. Diane leaves Meg a box containing old wedding photos of her and Meg’s father. The next day, Meg, who is now going to live with her father, gets into a blue car with him and they drive off. Cast Production Karen Moncrieff wrote the screenplay for the film thinking it would not be produced because it was so "uncommercial", but it won the Nicholl Fellowship from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1998. The role of Auster was written with David Strathairn in mind. Moncrieff named the character Auster because she saw a photo of the author Paul Auster and thought Strathairn resembled him. Blue Car was filmed primarily in Dayton, with two days in Oxnard, California. Principal photography, which began in June of 2001, took 20 days. Reception Release Blue Car premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. It was acquired by Miramax for one million dollars and given a limited theatrical release on May 2, 2003. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. Home media Blue Car was released on DVD on October 14, 2003 in the United States and Canada. Critical reception On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 89 reviews.