Thirteen (out of a Hundred)

Regular readers may have noted the absence of movie reviews and commentary of late. This is mostly because, until recently, it was August, and, as we all know, all of the studios’ worst films come out in August. Why? Apparently members of the academy have memories like goldfish, so they don’t release the good films until the fall. On the other hand, all of the summer blockbusters have already been released. In short, as Winnipeg is to Canada, August is to the rest of the movie year. However, in Thirteen I’ve finally seen a film that I can offer an opinion on.

What a load of utter bollocks. What a ridiculous pile of tripe. I’m a tolerate movie-goer, but this was the first film in years I’ve seriously considered walking out of.

Whew. Got that out of the way. Now, on to the review.

Can there be any surprise that this cautionary tale about youthful rebellion comes from that conservative empire, Fox? This film’s subtext is extraordinary in its fear-mongering, ‘family values’ postering. The film tells the story of Tracy, a thirteen-year-old kid who falls in with the wrong crowd, experiments with sex, drugs and piercings and generally makes a nuisance of herself. Her mother, played by the excellent Holly Hunter, suffers miserably as a result.

Could this film reinforce conservative ideas any more strongly? Here’s a quick run-through of some of the stereotypes this film reaffirms:

• Broken families make bad kids. Holly Hunter is separated from her husband and has taken up with another man.
  Watch out for addictive substances! Holly Hunter plays a recovering alcholic, and apparently approves of her son smoking pot.

• Minorities are hot-beds of sin. Tracy falls in with the bad Latino girl, and first experiments with drugs and sex with black people. Her brother, conversely, hangs out with white kids, who seem mostly into skateboarding and other harmless tomfoolery. When the two girls hit on an older white boy, he wisely and responsibly rejects them.
• Body piercings are evil.
• Watch out for girls alone in their bedroom…they might become lesbians!

And on and on. I wouldn’t mind all of this paranoia if the film was well-crafted, but it’s a mess. Holly Hunter’s a fantastic actor, and Deborah Unger isn’t bad, but the two young leads are miserable. Young actors are often like rookie athletes–lots of intensity but no finesse. Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Tracy, appears to have only three modes: sulky, tripping or spastic.

The direction and editing are equally appaulling. Apparently for first-time director Catherine Hardwicke, the shakiness of the camera is directly related to the emotional intensity of a scene. The plotting is lousy. There are set-ups without pay-offs, pay-offs without set ups, plot holes a mile wide. People (and, I might add, the family dog) seem to leave and arrive for no reason except that it’s convenient for the director.

We’ve had the story since we’ve had people (remember Adam, falling in with that bad crowd), and it’s been told with so much more skill and originality than in Thirteen. Two films that immediately come to mind are Traffic and Better Luck Tomorrow.

It’s noteworthy, I think, that while Metacritic (an index of American critics) gives this film a 71/100, users on IMDB on give it 57/100. This film, with its hot-button topics and the mighty power of Fox behind it, is an one for critics to like.

If you want to go see a truly effective, topical independent film, go see Dirty Pretty Things. This film is only fit for teenagers and suburban parents.

As a post-script: If I were an educator or counsellor and had some ‘teens in need’, I’d definitely show them this film. The teenage girl in the row in front of us was bawling her eyes out while I Was checking my watch. Clearly this would be (for a few years, until trends change) an effective tool for getting teenagers to discuss issues in their own lives.

Another footnote: The media has made much of Nikki Reed, the co-star who apparently co-wrote the film. Apparently it’s based in part on her own ‘rebellious experiences’ as a thirteen-year-old. It’s worth noting that Nikki is the daughter of Seth Reed, a successful art director whose films include ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Minority Report’. The articles fail to mention that this ‘bad girl’ is the daughter of a Hollywood insider, and so she wasn’t picked up fresh off the bad streets of some depraved urban centre. Sure, daughters of Hollywood artists can be rebels too, but knowing that takes some of the bloom off the rose.

To conclude, I quote this well-penned piece from New York Magazine:

Thirteen doesn’t really offer much more insight into exasperated mother-daughter relationships or twisted teens than, say, “Freaky Friday,” which I much prefer. At least that film was funny and didn’t try to fob itself off as a bulletin from the front lines.