Thirteen

Rating:
Summary: Hidden deleted scene on the DVD!!!
Review: On 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's release of the teenage drama 'Thirteen' the studio has added a deleted scene, hidden from immediate view. Here is how to get to it.
Insert the fullscreen version of the DVD in your player and on the Main Menu select 'Special Features.' On the following screen highlight the menu entry 'Making Of Featurette' and then press the 'Right' directional key on your remote control to highlight the number '13.' Now, press 'enter' and you will get to see a deleted scene of improvisation from the intervention.

Rating:
Summary: Thirteen- this move is AWESOME
Review: Thirteen, takes you on a personal rollrcoaster journey of teenage life today. With it's excellent cast including new face Nikki Reed. Thirteen is out to woo the nation. Thirteen tells the story of Tracey (Evan Rachel Wood) who goes to great lengths to befriend popular and beautiful Evie Zamora (Nikki Reed).Evie and Tracey become inseperatable making Tracey enter the life of sex,drugs and crime. Even Tracy's desprate mum (Holly Hunter) Cannot control her child. This film exploits perfectly the life of a teenage girl, who tries so hard to fit in! Catherine Hardwicke has directed this film brilliantly, with the colours to suit the characters mood. Not to mention the work of writer and co-star Nikki Reed who wrote this movie- whih i hope will soon come out as a novel. She really is a talented young girl and i hope to see more of her in the future!

Rating:
Summary: a scary look at reality for some teenagers
Review: A film by Catherine Hardwicke

"Thirteen" tells the story of Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), a thirteen year old girl who, up until this point, has been a good girl. She loves her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter), and listens to her. She is not a very popular girl in school, though she does have her own friends. We see her longing for a great social acceptance than what she has. When Melanie's former addict ex-boyfriend comes back into the picture despite Melanie's previous promise that he will never be back, Tracy is hurt, upset, and angry. From this she begins to take her first steps of rebellion. Evie (Nikki Reed) is one of the most popular girls in school, as well as the hottest (as described by Tracy's brother). It is obvious from the start that Tracy would like to be friends with Evie and perhaps have Evie's life.

The movie doesn't actually start here. The movie starts with Tracy and Evie (both of them then unnamed) sitting on a bed, huffing from an aerosol can, and hitting each other in the face and laughing because they can't feel their faces. The movie then moves to four months earlier when we see the more innocent Tracy, the pre-Evie Tracy. Tracy tries to get the chance to hang out with Evie, but gets brushed to the side with every opportunity. When she sees Evie shoplifting Tracy is first shocked but then very quickly sees an opportunity. Tracy steals an older woman's wallet without getting caught and runs up to Evie, tells her what she did, and shares the money. Evie and Tracy go on a little shopping spree and just like that they are inseparable.

Tracy is still fairly innocent, but the more time she spends with Evie the more she experiences: drugs, sex, alcohol, stealing, skipping classes, disobeying her mother, cursing at her mother. We watch as Tracy's life begins to spiral out of control and Melanie sees what is happening, though she does not really understand why, and she is powerless to stop it. Melanie is a recovering alcoholic herself, but she is doing the best she can as a single mother. She is all heart, and other than her relationship with the ex-boyfriend I'm not sure she really does anything wrong to drive Tracy away.

That is perhaps the one flaw in this movie. I had a difficult time figuring out Tracy's motivation for rebelling. I understood the desire for social acceptance, but not the driving need for it, and the film never explained that. Despite that lack of explanation on Tracy's motivation, this movie is filled with realistic, powerful performances. I believed the characters were who they were supposed to be rather than just actors playing a role. Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed had absolutely standout roles and they both did a fine job. Younger actors always seem to be the most difficult to cast because they often sound wooden when speaking their lines, but not Evan or Nikki, they were spot on. Nikki Reed should be highlighted as well because at age 13 she co-wrote this movie with the director and is now only 16 years old. What a debut (both in acting as well as screenwriting)!

"Thirteen" is a movie that, if I was a parent, would scare me. It tells me that even if I don't do anything really wrong or bad, if I'm not careful my daughter can still fall into the wrong crowd and go down a very harmful path. What is perhaps most frightening is that it is obvious from the movie that even before Tracy met Evie and started drinking and doing drugs that Tracy already had problems. Tracy is a cutter. When she is feeling low she locks herself in the bathroom and cuts into her forearms and just hides it with a long sleeve shirt. I thought "Thirteen" was a rather good movie even though it doesn't provide any answers nor does it provide a motivation for Tracy. It just says this is one possible reality for teenagers today. And that is a scary thought.

Rating:
Summary: Raw and real...See it and believe it.
Review: Catherine Hardwicke's "Thirteen" takes a gritty look at the lives of urban teenagers and the hardships single parents face. Holly Hunter's performance as Melanie, an L.A. hairdresser and single mother of two, is gripping and surreal. The two teenage girl characters, Evie and Tracy, are on a one-way mission to destruction and there seems to be little that anyone can do about it.

What I think was most effective about this film is the fast-paced camera work (think "Traffic" without the sepia tones) and the Hollywood setting. Melanie's n'er do well friends who come and go out of her household are especially realistic, and her good intentions are strongly portrayed. Her recovering boyfriend ends up being a rather sympathetic character, which is a nice touch, also. But all in all, the characters who shine are Tracy and Evie. They are painful and true and their performances are definitely worthy of the acclaim that they have been receiving.

Watch this movie...These performances will not dissapoint.

Rating:
Summary: Exaggerated and fabricated story.
Review: 'Thirteen' is an intense interpretation of teen life but fails because of its predictability and clichés. Nothing in this movie is original and at times it does seem preposterous and farfetched.

Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is one of those girls who dresses in clothes that are not in style and does well in her class works. She gets ridiculed because of her socks, which is quite childish even it is simply a teenager making those comments. She is not popular and hangs out with those that are like her, and of course, she is envious of those girls who are popular with the boys. I don't need to continue for you to know how this will play out.

Evie (Nikke Reed) on the contrary, is the most popular girl and 'hottest looking' girl in school. She is conniving for she at first gives Tracy a false number and then shoplifts at a store. Trying to gain their friendship, Tracy steals a ladies wallet and goes on a shopping spree with her new gal pals. Tracy gets a whole new make out with provocative clothes and makeup and her life has completely turned upside down. This is one of the problems with 'Thirteen.' The film is trying to convince us of Tracy's sins with piercing and revealing clothes. It makes stereotypes to those who have piercing or wear sexy clothes as sinful.

Holly Hunter plays Tracy's mom Melanie. She has a salon in her house and earns her living through it. She is apparently divorced and has a few problems within her little world also. She can barely contain her changed daughter and has a boyfriend named Brady (Jeremy Sisto) who has taken advantage of Melanie before. This is a typical setting for a movie involving the breakdown of a young teenage girl succumbing to peer pressure.

It would not be a movie about teenagers if it did not have sex and drugs. Tracy and Evie inhale, drink, sniffs, and smokes. Every scene in this movie dealing with drugs is fabricated. The movie opens with Tracy and Evie inhaling and punching and slapping each other with humor. It's more comical than it is disturbing. They make their money by also selling drugs but where did they get it in the first place? I just didn't buy the fact that as they were using these drugs that they did not have a bit of conscience and hesitation. It would have added more depth to these characters instead of merely having them do drugs loosely.

Rating:
Summary: Obviously co-written by a 13 year old
Review: The film is average at best, despite Holly Hunter being great as the mom-who-looks-like-an-older-sister. The DVD has both widescreen and full screen versions, which is nice, but other than that there's nothing worth seeing. The commentary is essentially the teen actresses and looney director giggling for a hour and a half.

Rating:
Summary: THIRTEEN- A GREAT DRAMA!!!
Review: this was the best movie i have ever seen. it still remains my utmost favorite movie. Being a teen like tracy i can really connect to what she is feeling and why. For some reason adults either like it or they dont, i think the only ones who do like it are those who can relate to children who are lost whether it be there own or anothers child. anyone who says this movie is a load of crap must have no heart or understanding. It tells nothing but truth in a teens life (well not every teen, just the ones who get into tracy's situation). The person who made the film has great honesty and bravery for making this film and thats what makes it different from all other teen movies. It has a cliff hanger ending making you want to know what happens with them which makes it even better if you like that feeling of suspense and drama. A great movie for teen and adults alike, most likley you will get attachted to tracy and can relate, very true and to the point movie.

Rating:
Summary: Thirteen does not offer enough commentary/prespective.
Review: I found this movie to be a realistic portrayal of two girls with a lot of problems. The movie is content to show us the pain of their problems without offering commentary or insight into them. A movie about pain with nothing deeper makes for an unpleasant movie.

The movie could have done a better job of showing just how Tracy went from a young woman with problems to a petty criminal. I get the impression the movie blames her friendship with Evie, but that is simplistic. Tracy seeks out Evie and lionizes her. Evie doesn't have to twist Tracy's arm to make her commit crimes.

That is the what really makes the movie unpleasant-- Tracy, the main character, does not come off favorably. She is sympathetic because she has mental problems, family problems, and bad friends. This does not excuse her stealing and being mean to her family. In contrast, her mother, mother's boyfriend, and her mother's ex-husband come off as somewhat flawed but basically good people.

The movie would have been better if Tracy's troubled and youthful perspective provided some insight into the culture she is growing up in. Tracy could have channeled her frustration into righting some of the flaws in the adults around her. But then again, that would be a different movie altogether.

I have to disagree with reviewers who thought the movie was about drugs and sex. From my standpoint, experimenting with drugs and sex are normal at that age. The movie is about personal problems causing someone to lose control of her life. Reckless sex and drug abuse are a tiny part of the larger picture.

Rating:
Summary: Too bad zero stars isn't an option
Review: Am I the only one who thinks this movie was boring? Why was it billed as being so "important"? They use that term for any movie that stinks to try to get an audience.

You'll read reviews that state how this movie portrays the real life of today's 13-year old but it actually PROMOTES this bad life... it doesn't just show it.

The characters do not really redeem themselves, they just all kind of forgive each other for hurting each other over and over and nothing is resolved very well. The film just runs off the end of the reel and it's over.

If you want to see kids engaged in physical love, here's your chance. Hollywood just loves to show kids do stuff they shouldn't. Hollywood is addicted to this and they want to make it look normal so more kids will do it so Hollywood will have the chance to get more kids in the Directors' lairs.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!!!
Review: Thirteen was simply the BEST movie ever. I'm not kidding, it teaches moral values, staying off drugs, etc. And I'm glad this movie was made for the good of today's youth