HOUNDDOG is writer-director Deborah Kampmeier's controversial story of lost innocence set in rural Alabama in the 1950s. Heavy with the dank, rustic hues of the South, the film is a powerfully vivid and imagistic portrayal of the power of music to overcome the greatest of obstacles. The superbly accomplished child star Dakota Fanning turns in the performance of her career as Lewellen, a tomboy who finds escape from her life with a sternly religious grandmother (Piper Laurie) and a brutish, alcoholic father (David Morse) with her dreams of singing with her idol, Elvis Presley. Lewellen's best friend, Buddy (Cody Hanford), reveals that Elvis will be performing in their town, and the pair scheme to see the show. Before long, Lewellen's guileless impersonations of Elvis's provocative, hip-swiveling "Hounddog" become misconstrued, and she becomes a victim of the lecherous advances of an older teen with promises of a concert ticket. While HOUNDDOG occasionally gets heavy-handed with Biblical allusions--snakes and torrential rains appear repeatedly in the film--the story is, ultimately, a redemptive one; the performances--especially Fanning's--are believable and serve the story well. And thanks to the gentle guidance of a local medicine man (Afemo Omilami), our young protagonist learns that the rock & roll she loves has deep roots in the blues, and like all great blues music, comes out of overcoming the deep sorrow of life's tribulations.