**Spoilers (I guess)**
This was a trite, predictable film that seldom presented something other than a contrivance. The acting was pretty sub-par overall...in fact, there were few things about this film that I didn't have a problem with.
First of all, Evan Rachel Wood was terrible in her role as Tracey. Her performance lacked any subtlety. Perhaps it was the directing, though; since that was so terrible in every other aspect, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I have a huge problem with the fact that she's supposed to be a sympathetic character, and here's really where my deepest discontent with this film lies. Tracey is presented as a poor little baby whose daddy's not around, and who cuts herself up when she doesn't get her way. How is this supposed to make me feel anything at all for this character? She abuses her family, she's disrespectful to her mother and everyone around her...I remember being 13, and I know it was an incredibly difficult age, but I didn't lose all compassion for the people around me! Ridiculous. Wood screams and cries and carries on, and in the moments when she's alone and we're supposed to feel sorry for her, she is so melodramatic that all you can do is roll your eyes and wait for the scene to end.
Secondly, Holly Hunter. I can appreciate her talents in other films, but it seemed there wasn't a whole lot she could do about the character of Mel, who was completely obnoxious; a stereotypical L.A. airhead (e.g. "Am I not allowed to look at your body anymore?" Who the hell says that to their daughter, and in such a hurt tone of voice???). Her irritating, whiny pleas for Tracey's compassion seriously made me want to throw things at my television. As a matter of fact, there were numerous times in this film that I started feeling like every character was a classic L.A. stereotype. This story could not have taken place ANYWHERE else. The father, for instance, with his cell phone and slicked hair, was completely L.A. and totally one-dimensional.
Nikki Reed was atrocious as well; the scene in which she cries when rejected was completely pathetic. At first I thought maybe she was *supposed* to be fake-crying, in keeping with the shallow nature of the Evie character, but no...that was just poor acting on Reed's part.
The character of Mason was likewise over-acted, in typical fashion of this film; his sole purpose seemed to be to stomp around SCREAMING at his sister for her out of control behavior. Then, after all that, when Mel finally calls a family meeting to confront Tracey, he begs off to go surfing! Just another example of the poor writing...
There are really too many bad things about this film to even bother listing them all. PLEASE don't get me started on the PAINFULLY CONTRIVED scene of the two girls practicing kissing with each other. That was the most gratuitous, repulsive piece of shock-value crap I have witnessed in a movie posing as an "art film" in as long as I can remember, possibly surpassed only by their "threesome" with the boy next door.
There are things about this film that are not terrible, but these things are not concrete scenes in the film, more just the suggestion of the reality of being a teenager. The girls have no regard for their safety; they take drugs of all kinds as if they're invincible, sleep around without any thought whatsoever for the consequences...but even this brutal truth doesn't save this cliché of a film.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a spurious, poorly-acted, miserably-directed film that could really only be appreciated by a thirteen year old girl who fancies herself a rebel. The characters are unattractive, the story is unattractive, and you can definitely tell it was shot in under 30 days, and scripted in under 6. I would not recommend this film to anyone.
Oh, and PS--To everyone who keeps mentioning the girls are bad because they're having sex with "black boys": I think you're missing the point. It isn't at all that they're having sex with "black boys," just that they're having sex with boys. The fact that the boys are black is pretty incidental; that just happens to be who the girls are attracted to and who they primarily hang out with. (If I'm wrong about this, then please add "Racism" to the list of reasons why I hate this film...)
This was a trite, predictable film that seldom presented something other than a contrivance. The acting was pretty sub-par overall...in fact, there were few things about this film that I didn't have a problem with.
First of all, Evan Rachel Wood was terrible in her role as Tracey. Her performance lacked any subtlety. Perhaps it was the directing, though; since that was so terrible in every other aspect, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I have a huge problem with the fact that she's supposed to be a sympathetic character, and here's really where my deepest discontent with this film lies. Tracey is presented as a poor little baby whose daddy's not around, and who cuts herself up when she doesn't get her way. How is this supposed to make me feel anything at all for this character? She abuses her family, she's disrespectful to her mother and everyone around her...I remember being 13, and I know it was an incredibly difficult age, but I didn't lose all compassion for the people around me! Ridiculous. Wood screams and cries and carries on, and in the moments when she's alone and we're supposed to feel sorry for her, she is so melodramatic that all you can do is roll your eyes and wait for the scene to end.
Secondly, Holly Hunter. I can appreciate her talents in other films, but it seemed there wasn't a whole lot she could do about the character of Mel, who was completely obnoxious; a stereotypical L.A. airhead (e.g. "Am I not allowed to look at your body anymore?" Who the hell says that to their daughter, and in such a hurt tone of voice???). Her irritating, whiny pleas for Tracey's compassion seriously made me want to throw things at my television. As a matter of fact, there were numerous times in this film that I started feeling like every character was a classic L.A. stereotype. This story could not have taken place ANYWHERE else. The father, for instance, with his cell phone and slicked hair, was completely L.A. and totally one-dimensional.
Nikki Reed was atrocious as well; the scene in which she cries when rejected was completely pathetic. At first I thought maybe she was *supposed* to be fake-crying, in keeping with the shallow nature of the Evie character, but no...that was just poor acting on Reed's part.
The character of Mason was likewise over-acted, in typical fashion of this film; his sole purpose seemed to be to stomp around SCREAMING at his sister for her out of control behavior. Then, after all that, when Mel finally calls a family meeting to confront Tracey, he begs off to go surfing! Just another example of the poor writing...
There are really too many bad things about this film to even bother listing them all. PLEASE don't get me started on the PAINFULLY CONTRIVED scene of the two girls practicing kissing with each other. That was the most gratuitous, repulsive piece of shock-value crap I have witnessed in a movie posing as an "art film" in as long as I can remember, possibly surpassed only by their "threesome" with the boy next door.
There are things about this film that are not terrible, but these things are not concrete scenes in the film, more just the suggestion of the reality of being a teenager. The girls have no regard for their safety; they take drugs of all kinds as if they're invincible, sleep around without any thought whatsoever for the consequences...but even this brutal truth doesn't save this cliché of a film.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a spurious, poorly-acted, miserably-directed film that could really only be appreciated by a thirteen year old girl who fancies herself a rebel. The characters are unattractive, the story is unattractive, and you can definitely tell it was shot in under 30 days, and scripted in under 6. I would not recommend this film to anyone.
Oh, and PS--To everyone who keeps mentioning the girls are bad because they're having sex with "black boys": I think you're missing the point. It isn't at all that they're having sex with "black boys," just that they're having sex with boys. The fact that the boys are black is pretty incidental; that just happens to be who the girls are attracted to and who they primarily hang out with. (If I'm wrong about this, then please add "Racism" to the list of reasons why I hate this film...)
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