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By
DEBORAH NICOL
It would be hard to imagine
that the age of thirteen is a pleasant time in any
culture. In Nikki Reed's semi-autobiographical
journey of the L.A. pre-teen world, a glimpse is
given into the lifestyle not only of the usual
frustrations of boys and makeup, but sex, drugs,
and self-mutilation.
Reed stars not as herself, but as the influential
bad girl Evie, who brings A-student Tracy into a
dark, downward spiral. Tracy is portrayed with
frantic emotion by TV's "Once and Again" Evan
Rachel Wood. Raised by single mother and creative
spirit Melanie (the impeccable Holly Hunter),
Tracy has been exposed to the downsides of drugs
through Melanie's occasional coke-head boyfriend
("Six Feet Under's" talented Jeremy Sisto) and
Melanie's own addictions, from which she's
recovering. Yet the confusion of hormones, peer
pressure, and a broken home complicate her ability
to make strong decisions, and Tracy quickly falls
into an indifferent world of bad choices.
Filmed with the same frantic fervor of the age,
the film literally looses its color as Tracy's
world becomes darker and more dangerous. Along
with the junior high age comes much high-pitched
squealing and the arrogance of youth, at times
intolerable but understandable. This is not
necessarily poor acting, but simply a reflection
of portraying obnoxious tweenagers, whereas in
contrast adult characters show off their acting
chops with their subtleties. This film should not
be viewed as a wake-up call so much as an example
of everything going as badly as possible.
Teenagers need to be treated with respect and
allowed full communication, but sometimes too many
variables are uncontrollable, as seen in this
tale.
DVD extras include commentary by the cast, a
making-of featurette, deleted scenes and trailers. |
