Tart

Rating:
Summary: Is it really that bad?
Review: As I was flipping through channels on HBO, I came across the last 20-30 minutes of Tart. From what I saw, it seemed like an interesting movie. I'd like to see it from the beginning. But from the way everyone is battering it maybe I won't. Perhaps I had to see it from the beginning to appreciate how bad most of you are saying it is. Since I haven't seen the whole thing, I can't rate it (i gave it 3 stars because I my computer made me put something), but from what I saw, it didn't seem terrible, but rather interesting. I might just rent it since I usually like movies starring Dominique Swain.

Rating:
Summary: NOT AS BAD AS OTHER REVIEWERS CLAIM
Review: First, let me point out that this movie has a completely misleading package -- it's nothing like 'Kids' or 'Cruel Intention', and it doesn't try to be. This coming-of-age story is told from the point of view of Cat (Swain) who is trying to hard to fit into other people's life while searching for her own identity. I totally disgaree with everyone who says that the acting is bad -- Swain does a convincing job at playing a confused and depressed young woman who needs to make important choices in her life, and the other actors are certainly better than some teen movies out there. It's not fast-paced, which probably explain why some viewers decided it was really bad: obvioulsy, they expected 'Lolita 2' or 'Cruel Intention 3'. It is a character study, a slice of life of rich kids living in New York City, not a cheap-thrill, teen sex film.

The script was tight, and certainly doesn't deserve the harsh criticisms I've read here.

The only thing I'll complain about is this: shame on the production company and distributors to package this film under the title 'Tart' (it has absolutely nothing to do with it, and it's an insult to the scriptwriter and actors involved) and shame on them for letting the public believe that this is a film about sex, drugs and fast life. Packaged probably and re-titled, this film probably would have done quite well. Get it if you like character studies and dramas, but if you're looking for something like 'Cruel Intention', then you'll be dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: Good Flick, Shows A Real Teenage Girls Life
Review: I guess to really enjoy this movie, u have to be a teenager. Being a teenager myself, I could really relate to the character of Kat. Being 17, getting no where with guys, hating ur life, and not fitting in, are all major points of the film and a girls life. It also shows alot of drug and alcohol use which is a very realistic topic teens deal with every day. I would only recomend this movie to teens because its REALLY easy to relate to. If ur not a teen, u will prolly dislike this movie because u wont be able to understand the reality of a teenage girls life in todays society.

Rating:
Summary: Passafist Reviews Tart
Review: I like granny smith apples. I like lemons. When I was a little kid I used to like to eat lots of sweet tarts. There's something pleasurable of puckering up my lips after eating something very tart. That's why it saddens me to say that I HATE TART. What a horribly bad film!

What happened to Dominique Swain? After turns in the big budget FACE/OFF and then the provocative if flawed LOLITA, I think she decided to make only straight to video films. In TART she plays Kat Storm, a middle class girl in a rich man's world. She hates her mother (Alberta Watson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) her little brother (Myles Jeffrey, FACE/OFF) is a hypochondriac. Her family used to be wealthy Park Avenue residents, then her parents got divorced. Kat's father (Michael Murphy) a restaurateur has hit hard times. So to make this subtle point, just about every time we see her front door, repo-men are taking something out.

Kat attends a high-class private school for girls. After her best friend Delilah (Bijou Phillips, Black and White) is kicked out of school for drugs. Kat makes some new friends, she falls for William (Brad Renfro, Bully) a nice guy with a troubled family and then she realizes it's all a sham. Her friends suck, William is a drug addict and his dad beats his mom. Kat want to fix everything, so she runs off to the Hamptons. That's when the film crashes to it conclusion, I never would have guessed what was gonna happen, but by the end didn't care.

First time director Christina Wayne tries very hard to make an interesting film. Too bad it fails miserably. Everything feels forced. The film re-emphasizes points it has already made enough, and then leaves guessing on plot ideas that seem much more important. But maybe they only seem important because we as an audience are confused about them. It also has one of the most pointless voice-overs in film history, and uses every film-school cliché in the book.

This 90-minute film is so clunky it feels longer than that. It present characters whom start to grate on you. Maybe it's because the story is so mundane. Maybe because the screenplay hasn't found that balance of character development, and plot structure. The film doesn't work.

The only bright spot in this film is Lacey Chabert (Party of Five) who's character is the one with a little dimension. You actually feel bad for her, and yet she keeps her dignity. Too, bad the movie didn't give us more from her.

I'd stay away from TART.

Rating:
Summary: Theres only One way to watch this movie
Review: I must say in sober state of mind this movie would have prob been no good! And being under the influence of a few things the first time i watched it i felt as if i was apart of the movie! As confussed as i was it made me watch it the next morning! Then rent it the next weekend when i got messed up again! and then one more weekend when i went to a different friends house we were were nonsober people!! but hey i think the movies awaesome now... nonsober or sober

Rating:
Summary: This 2 me, is 1 of the best movies ever
Review: I think that this movie is 1 of the best movies I have ever seen. I went and rented the movie the day it came out and bought the DVD the following weekend. This movie has my favorite actress, Domonique Swain in it. I had been really anticipating for the release of this movie as well as other by her including "Happy Campers", "The Smokers", and "New Best Friend." Dominique and the rest of the cast are all tallented and hopefully she'll keep making movies that I enjoy like this 1.

Rating:
Summary: Really that bad?! Worse, is more like it.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Domonique Swain in Lolita, and some of her other small parts. I despised this movie. The story line was incomplete, the importance of certain parts exaggerated (or unexplained), and the plot non-existent ... So many things leave you with a complete blank. I enjoyed the performance of Bijou Phillips, and that was about it. By the end, when you are expecting SOMETHING significant to explain so many things, it ends. No great loss. By the time it ends, I was completely ready for the torture to stop. Yech!

Rating:
Summary: Swain ..
Review: Once again Dominique Swain graces herself in this strange film that revolves around snobby private school brats. The movie is neither heavy nor deep, rather just a dark story well executed by most of the cast. It is that rare film that starts at the end and slowly works its way back, and everything makes sense. I guess this film is shocking, to American standards, it touches on some subjects the typical teen films have never approached-it is definitely not for the sheltered. I enjoyed watching it and will undoubtedly watch it again. The version I have is the one released in Hong Kong, hopefully the American release will have better features. The film moves at a decent pace, never too slow nor too fast, and is overall entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood Movie
Review: Personally, I loved this movie. It may have been because I had no preconceived notion that it was supposed to be like Creul Intentions, having watched it on HBO and without any idea of what I was watching. I hate to be cliche, but you really cannot judge this movie by the cover. It's deceptively packaged as being a typical teen movie when in reality it is a deeply disturbing movie about a girl's life being destroyed as she tries to figure out who she is. Although some characters are a bit overacted they convicingly pull you into their deceptive lives. Tart exposes the world of friends having falsified identities and a seemingly glamourous life.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a teen film with some depth
Review: Tart is a film that deals with real teen issues: family, prejudice, first love, sex, drugs, sexual identity. It doesn't take the easy road but goes to some pretty dark places. The story unravels in an interesting way. It takes it's time and allows you to get to know the characters. The cinematography is beautiful and captures New York city at it's best. The performances are solid, especially Brad Renfro and Bijou Phillips. It's for adults just as much as it's for teenagers. This is one teen film that won't insult your intelligence.