2003, USA/UK
Drama
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 of 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 downside of drugs through Melanie's occasional coke-head boyfriend ("Six Feet Under's" talented Jeremy Sisto) and Melanie's own addictions, from which she is recovering. Yet the confusion of hormones, peer pressure, and a broken home complicates 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.