Thirteen

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: I love this movie! It is probably one of the best teen movies out there. Its so real, the acting was wonderful I actually felt like I was in the movie, it was so great. I recommend it for anyone of any age to sit down and watch it.

Rating:
Summary: Decent, with a touch of cliche.
Review: Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke, 2003)

So much hype around this movie, and how quickly we forget (or never knew in the first place. When star Evan Rachel Wood says in the DVD extras that no film has ever treated this subject quite like this before, I wondered how the director (the screenwriter, being only thirteen years of age, has an obvious excuse) can have managed to miss Harmony Korine's brilliant, devastating 1995 film Kids. And that certainly wasn't the only time I saw the specter of Kids hanging over this production.

Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood, from Profiler) is starting her first day of seventh grade. She's your typical geek girl, maybe a little prettier than most. Upon reaching school, she finds herself overcome with jealousy when all the males notice a small group of girls dressed all in black and looking bad. She endeavors to get herself in by befriending one of them, Evie (scriptwriter Nikki Reed). Evie and the crowd introduce her to various bad behaviors, and Tracy goes from being a model student to rock bottom practically overnight.

Despite Evan Rachel Wood's Best Actress-worthy performance, the movie is simply too easy. It falls into too many of the urban legend traps that one expects from a movie like this, but hopes won't show up. (That the screenwriter was herself thirteen both makes us want to cut her some slack and, if this is truly autobiographical, smack her upside the head for exaggerating in the most predictable ways possible.) The characters find themselves in utterly predictable situations and react in utterly predictable ways. This leads to such scenic contradictions as Holly Hunter and Deborah Unger's climactic confrontation over the behavior of their respective children, where Hunter can't seem to tell which way to turn to slap someone. Unger, it should be noted, is not nearly as much fun onscreen as she usually is; if you want to see this lady act, rent Crash. Here, she's nothing more than scenery. And Hunter? Well, she's never been the world's greatest actress. She's survived since The Firm playing herself over and over again (with the exception of her woefully-out-of-place casting in The Piano); here, she does exactly that once again. Nothing you haven't seen before, folks. On the good side are Wood and Jeremy Sisto (Caesar, May) as Hunter's on-again off-again boyfriend.

The odd pairing of Hunter (born in 1958) and Sisto (born in 1974) serves to reinforce one of the movie's finest (and, perhaps, most ironic) moments: the attempted seduction of the next door neighbor by the two teens. Odd age disparities bounce around this movie like pinballs just after you've hit the multi-ball bonus. And they all seem okay except this one. Perhaps they're trying to send a message about the idiocy of the magic age law, especially as it concerns young female instigators?

Not a bad little movie, but really not as good as all the hype made it out to be. If your breath was taken away by how original this movie was, run, do not walk, to your local decent video store and rent Kids. ***

Rating:
Summary: Exploitive Junk
Review: At one point late in the movie "Thirteen," a bewildered (and naked) Holly Hunter sits upon her bed with a thousand-yard stare. What's a mother to do? Considering the frenetic button pushing that preceded Hunter's dramatic full monty (in Hollywood talk this is called an "honest and raw" performance), one can't help but feel that the moment wasn't earned. That it was just one more manipulative moment in a movie chock full of them. "Thirteen" depends upon shock, but the problem is, when you manipulate the viewer to such a degree, shock instead becomes a yawn, and sometimes even a giggle as you cross off each no-no (sex, drugs, body-piercing, shoplifting, sneaking out the window, etc). There is so much overacting in "Thirteen" that I can't help but compare it to the cult flick "Mommie Dearest." There are a number of fine teenage wasteland movies out there, starting with "Rebel without a Cause," which to some extent "Thirteen" may be closest to. But without James Dean, there is no "cool" to propel the movie - just Holly Hunter's money shot. (...)"

Rating:
Summary: People review this and think it's realistic?
Review: My Review: Little miss perfect teenage girl meets the popular bad girl and gets into bad stuff and mom is shocked when she finds out. The end.

Well, for me it ended about 45 minutes after the movie started. I could only last that long. It was terrible, dull, boring and predictable. Defintely a waste of time.

If you want reality to show your little teenagers, show them Trainspotting.

Rating:
Summary: very good but not so acurate
Review: i thought this movie was very good and realy captured what it can be like for a teen better than many other movies. but for me and where i live most kids arent like that. if there is a party most kids will get drunk and maybe a few will smoke pot or something but not hardcore like the kids in this movie did. also no one will go into the city wasted or be so stupid about drugs if they do it they will do it at a party and only what they need they dont do it all the time like the girls in the movie. the parts about sex were accurate i know plenty of kids who have had oral sex and even regular sex i even know some juniors who have had a threesome like they almost did in the movie with that older guy.pretty much real kids arent as radical as the kids in the movie but they still do many of the same things. all in all i thought this movie was very exciting and a good watch.

Rating:
Summary: Exploitive Junk
Review: At one point late in "Thirteen," a bewildered, and naked, Holly Hunter sits upon her bed with a thousand mile stare in her eyes: what's a mother to do? Considering the preceding mess of a film that brought the viewer to Holly's full monty (in Hollywood this is called "honest and raw") moment, I don't know. From a dramatic point of view, it certainly wasn't earned, but given the exploitive nature of the movie, it probably should of been expected, since every other button had been pushed. Drugs, sex, surprisingly little rock and roll, shoplifting, sneaking out the window at night. What a yawn. But manipulation can create that kind of reaction. Basically, "Thirteen" is a handheld (and uncool) camera version of "Rebel without a Cause." As mentioned by others, the MTV - Real World comparison is apt, though Real World, in its own trashy way, is more interesting, since it wisely leaves out primal teen angst innocence lost screams and is currently barred from Mommy money shots. There is actually quite a few good teenage wasteland movies out there. 2001's L.I.E. easily outraws "Thirteen," as does 1987's "River's Edge." But hey, I find more disturbing revelations about teenagers and their secret lives in old reruns of Twin Peaks.

Rating:
Summary: Dig. Vid. Genius.
Review: All shot on digital video, often with stripped down colors and shaky effects, 'Thirteen' is a hard hitting, realistic drama about Tracy, a 13 yr old middle schooler who gets caught up in drugs, [adolescence], and crime at too young of an age. Meanwhile, her brother is on his own pot escapades, and her mother is concentrating on her AA meetings and her coked up boyfriend.
'Thirteen' is the epitomy of realistic teen dramas. It sets the stage for all that will be coming in this rare, but exquisid film. Go see it and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: O my god
Review: This movie was the best,I mean yea it might have some bad influences but..for my generation of thirteen-forteen year olds it shows how fun life can be. And that it sometimes doesnt have a wonderful ending like you would picture it.
The movie shows hjow people can betray you in amny ways ...they can get you into bad habbits...or sometimes they can help you realize your potential and then you might acctually come out of your skin into someone you can really are.Like Tracy, she didnt dress as sexy as all of the other girls that guys liked in her school.Eve became friends and started brining on bad influences.Then when Eve starts to bring in drugs, sex, beer, stealing into tracy's life,but tracy doesnt notice what happenign till she hits rock bottom ..and her life is all screwed up and she knows there is no easy way out this time.
Like i said ...its a great movie for teens that are in between to watch ...it shows what can happen when you get mixed up wth the wrong crowd of people and what happens when you get mixed up with drugs, alcohol and sex.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film
Review: I highly enjoyed this movie! Most films about teens portray them as glamourous and always having fun, not caring about anything. This film portrays us as we really can be, through all of our pain. I loved this movie, and immediatly after I watched it, I called my friends over to watch it again with me. We all loved it and thought it was very insightful, and eerily endearing. I would reccommend this movie!

Rating:
Summary: How it REALLY is.
Review: I thought this movie was disturbing, but only because of how real it was to me. What happened with the drug use and going into a downward spiral just to fit in is exactly what happens with teenagers today. This movie is pretty incredible. It kept me interested the entire time.