| The
Review: |
Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood
) seems to have a good life, but apparently she has a secret
desire to experience the, how shall we say this, 'hot' life.
During her first day of the 7th grade, Tracy sees Evie Zamora
(Nikki Reed ), the 'hottest'
girl in school, and watches as all of the guys drool over
her, including her own brother, Mason (Brady Corbet ).
Even though Tracy has a number of supportive and intelligent
friends, her hidden desire to be popular and have guys objectify
her wins in the end. *** So, the next day, she does her best
to put together an outfit she thinks will impress Evie and,
to Tracy's surprise, it does, resulting in Evie giving Tracy
her cell phone number (at least, so Tracy thinks) and inviting
her to go shopping with her on Melrose Street. Tracy proceeds
to call it after school, but realizes it isn't the right number.
Undaunted, she heads down to Melrose Street anyway and happens
upon Evie. She doesn't have much money, but neither does Evie,
who doesn't let her lack of funds prevent her from taking
whatever she wants. Not knowing what to do, Tracy leaves the
store only to happen upon a businesswoman who turns her back
on her purse while sitting next to Tracy on a bench. Tracy,
stepping over the line between good girl and bad girl, takes
the woman's wallet and with her newly found cash, proceeds
to become Evie's best friend. ***
Thus ensues a disastrous four months
during which Evie introduces Tracy to her world of drugs,
sex, and lies. Surprisingly, Tracy takes to it like an old
pro. But there is a hitch... Tracy's mother, Melanie 'Mel'
Freeland (Holly Hunter
), isn't willing to watch her daughter turn into a drug-using
slut. Despite Mel's best efforts, which are hampered by a
blemished past of her own and an on again/off again relationship
with a reformed dopehead named Brady (Jeremy Sisto ),
Tracy descends into chaos, only to catch a glimpse of the
error of her ways when she realizes she is failing every single
class in school and is going to be held back a year. ***
Trying to put some distance between
herself and Evie to pull herself out of the mess she is in
only makes things worse as Evie's drug-dealing is finally
discovered by her cousin, Brooke (Deborah Unger ).
But Evie is quick enough to blame Tracy and plant enough evidence
in Evie's room to make it seem convincing. The result is a
final showdown in which Mel confronts Tracy and they both
breakdown, realizing it's time to take care of the problem.
***
I wasn't particularly excited to
watch this movie as I'm a 27 year-old, non-drinking, non drug-using,
monogamous male; I really didn't think I would be able to
relate at all. And, frankly, I couldn't. But I did at least
appreciate what the movie was trying to say. ***
As far as the story goes, if you
allow for the initial suspension of belief required for Tracy
to throw away a happy life to become one of the 'hotties',
the story works quite well. Some may not think this decision
warrants a suspension of belief, but as I never found the
'hot' crowd alluring, I have to consign this decision to the
'suspension of belief' category. Also, what proceeds after
this decision (the drugs, sex, etc.) is really like talking
the worst of the worst stories from a number of people and
putting it all together into one story. At least, that's my
take on it. I'm sure some people have experienced something
like this, but Tracy had so many things fall apart so fast
that it really seemed to be the exaggerated version of what
could happen. (I'm sure someone will read this review and
say that it wasn't an exaggeration; and to that person I say,
"Sorry, but I'm glad I'm not you.") ***
Additionally, there are a couple
of problems with the story, primarily in plot lines and characters
that are introduced but never satisfactorily concluded. One
particularly memorable one is a scene in which Tracy is accosted
by two girls who seem to think she has fronted them in some
way. But somebody happens to show up (who that somebody was
isn't very clear) and they disappear, never to return again.
There are a number of sequences like this when characters
are introduced but then never reappear, include a very brief
scene with Tracy's father. ***
But undoubtedly the biggest problem
with the story was the pacing. This movie seemed like it lasted
three hours. It went on and on and on and in all the places
where it desperately needed some music to speed things up,
there was absolute silence. Even though the movie was only
99 minutes long, it could easily have been cut 20 minutes
and have told the same story. ***
Where this movie redeems itself
is in the acting. I have to admit I was very impressed. The
entire cast (with the exception of a couple of the very, very
peripheral characters) was very good. Evan Rachel Wood and
Holly Hunter, especially, were incredible. Honestly, I wasn't
expecting much from Evan Rachel Wood, but she delivered a
powerful, convincing, and even disturbing performance. And
though Holly Hunter had her awkward moments when I thought
her interpretation of the role was a bizarre (e.g., rubbing
Tracy's head and body and kissing all the way up Tracy's arm
at the end), I have to admit she was very good. ***
Overall, I'm not sure whether I
should recommend this movie. It's tricky because liking it
will likely depends your approach to child-rearing. Let me
explain. The movie shows people what can (and does) happen.
Some people prefer to inform their children and then let them
make the decision. Others prefer to keep them ignorant with
the hope of keeping them safe. I'm inclined toward the initial
approach, believing at heart that rational people will tend
toward rational decisions given adequate information, so I
guess I would recommend it (though be prepared for a long
and drawn out film). But if your considering showing this
movie to your teenager and your parenting approach is to keep
children naive in the vain hope that they will never discover
these things, I'm guessing you'll want to skip this one.
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