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Reviews
Guilty at 17 (2014)
Explosive beginning but then disappoints, slowly fizzling out
Guilty at 17 was carried by one of the movie channels and aired on July 6 when I caught it, happening to be awake when otherwise I'd normally be in bed.
The film gets right to the point: with allegations of sexual abuse. The premise is perfect for a sizzling tennis match with conflicting testimonies, hidden agendas, teenage angst under peer pressure and undercover investigative work to search for the truth. However, bad script writing then takes over and we're left with a half-hearted badminton match between two key personalities, the heroine and the villainess. Both appear hamstrung by some ludicrous moments in the script that render the film almost comical.
As a viewer, I thought June Gailey's grief simply too mechanical at the teacher's suicide. Her moment of denial at his death is fleeting. Her anger was non-existent. Her recollection of happier times with him is blatantly absent. She moves straight to the final stage of bereavement by token acceptance. The audience is left bewildered at her decision to then turn around and investigate this suicide as suspicious. Overall, Alex Paxton-Beesly starts with tremendous potential since she's the "living" victim of a dastardly deed but the directors squander this capital by canning her emotional expression.
Chloe Rose plays the bad girl Devon Cavanor and I think she does a terrific job being the pathological schemer eventually caught up in her own game. The scenes of conflict between June and Devon are there in theory but are simply not exploited.
The audience expects a dramatic flare up between the two women in the classic sense: "good" girl against "bad" girl. Alas, there's no shouting or screaming, pulling of hair, glass shattering, dishes smashing and tables tumbling. There's no passion at all! It might be corny but even some little action between the heroine and the villain, a little hot, intense girl on girl fight scene, for example, would bump up the entertainment value, providing some dramatic relief to the monotony of poor script.
Finally, many of the personalities portrayed appear "out of character" with their real person seeming to take over at times, leaving one wondering whether we're still in the movie or in a reality TV series.
Overall the film needs some serious editing and a major script overhaul but that's probably not to be expected from its Canadian producers.
Blue Jasmine (2013)
A Genuine Film Worth Seeing
A great story of desperate people with ordinary dreams. The title is deceptive but pleasantly so. In this case, our heroine, pretty as the flower of the same name, is rotting from the inside, the stink evident as her neurotic predisposition sinks into psychosis. The storytelling is superbly done, being masterfully presented by switching seamlessly between past and present, between glory days and dog days. Cate Blanchett's portrayal of excess and penury is entirely authentic. She connects instantly from the opening scene, her voice and dramatic flair so overwhelming throughout the film that she leaves us wondering whether real life for her is any different. An amazing achievement. She truly carries the movie. Unfortunately, the depiction of men throughout the movie is quite dismaying with no real knight in shining armor here. Anything masculine was hopelessly sleazy, except for Chili, boyfriend to Jasmine's sister. But even he came across as a wuss. Shrug. Finally, Hal, Jasmine's husband could've played a more interesting role. He seems to have been added only to ensure a villain was available to hate. Actually seeing him work a shady deal would have taken the story telling to a higher level. Don't mistake this for a chick flick.