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Thirteen

Thirteen

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $15.98
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The most overrated film in the last ten years.
Review: A really bad ABC After School Special. If you need any more evidence of the "dumbing down of America", than here it is. I can't believe that so many critics liked this pile of crap.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Blah.....
Review: While Thirteen is in no way a bad film, it does not by any means deserve the continous praise that fellow reviewers are giving it. While it tackles a rough and very real subject, there are ultimately only 2 reasons to watch this film: Wood's and Oscar Nominee Hunter's performances. Hunter is utterly heartbreaking in her performance, and although she does not deserve to win the Oscar for THIS movie,( that honor should go to Patricia Clarkson)she definitely deserved the recognition. Overall a hit and miss forgettable film, by no means a classic or a 'great' drama.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Had Potential, But Not Very Good
Review: I was expecting, and hoping for a "Kids"-esque film with more edge and more realism. Thirteen is not edgy enough, and dare I say...a little too sweet? This movie had a lot of problems. First, the character of Tracy went from good to bad entirely too quickly, and you come out of this film barely knowing the main character. Secondly, the young, female actresses portraying the peers of Evie and Tracy (and the two stars themselves) become very annoying towards the beginning of the film; I felt like I was watching a teen movie, or an episode of TRL. And lastly, the ending (the last 15 seconds, in particular) was a huge disappointment after such a dramatic build-up to it. I understand the director's intention with the very last shot, but I was unimpressed. The only two good things about this film are Holly Hunter and Brady Corbet, who play Tracy's mother and brother, respectively. They both turn out very good performances. With bad performances by most of the actors and just a bad storyline overall, Thirteen does not live up to its potential, or the hype.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: not what i expected
Review: id been told about the awards and how this movie was a must see and i was told by people who had seen it that i needed to see the film. I had no idea what it was about. I looked at the cover and saw 2 teenage girls sticking their pierced tongues out and i was pretty sure that i wasnt going to like it at all though one friend did convince me to see it.
Your taking through the spiral of Tracys life as she goes from your typical 13 year old girl into a whirlwin of drugs, casual sex with random people, cutting, pickpocketing and deciet. Tracy is determined to get close to the most popular girl at school, Evie. Evie treats everyone that isnt in her circle of popularity as if they dont exist and if she does happen to speak to them shes usually making fun of them. Well, Tracy wants to be popular and is entranced by Evie in a way, youd almost think shes got a crush on her if you didnt know she didnt. Well, she gets what she wants. She wins her way into Evies life through her mom, mel, buying her clothes determined to give her daughter something to make her happy after she realises that her daughter feels left out.
Evies involvement in Tracys life for a while seems like a good thing to mel until things start to shout out to her that her daughters is nothing like the person that she knew. Through Tracys involvment with Evie Mel cant seem to catch up with her daughter or the girl who is stealing her away. Tracys brother isnt alot better than she is though they dont ever seem to pinpoint that. Suddenly Tracy and her familys life becomes a hell on earth led by the charming new live in Evie with no escape and Tracy begins to fall apart and becomes very "cracked out" to put it in nice terms.

Dont be fooled by the cover of this dvd or video. It is not poppy or cute, it is not funny and it will slap you in the face and it doesnt sugar coat anything or hold anything back.

A movie to watch with your kids (though im not sure at the young age of 13 unless your kids been through quite the story of their own.)

and finally... its not a movie to be missed..

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: maybe i expected too much.
Review: to keep it simple.. i expected way too much out of this movie. friends had called it 'shocking' and 'amazing', but too me it was so tame, and hardly believable. maybe it's because when you see it after certain movies, and compare it to brilliant films dealing with drugs, such as 'Reqium for a Dream".. nothing is able to shock you anymore. (i think those who have seen Requiem and have seen this afterwards will agree). i know this is reed's true story, but i think she has made a little over the top. the only part of the movie i would watch repeatadly was when they are running around in the sprinklers. brilliantly shot, and the music is mesmirizing. unfortunetely, that is about the only brilliant and mesmerizing part of this movie. if you want to see a good movie dealing with drugs and teens.. see 'kids', 'bully' and 'requiem for a dream'. all three are amazing.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Overrated.
Review: Thirteen plays like an after school special with nudity. The performances were stereotyped and the ending was a cop-out.

The best part of the movie was Liz Phair's "Explain it to Me" playing over the end credits.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: one of the best of 2003
Review: THIRTEEN is a raw, uncompromising drama that ranks as one of the best of 2003. The energy in the quick, low budget, shoot comes through in the film.( On the commentary track, director/cowriter Catherine Hardwicke says Fox Searchlight didn't get involved until after the production was completed. )
Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood, snubbed by Oscar) desperately wants to be accepted by Evie (cowriter Nikki Reed) , the coolest girl at school. Evie accepts Tracy and the two become friends, but Evie introduces Tracy to sex, drugs, and self-destructive behavior. Complicating matters is the fact that Evie has no home life and Tracy's mom (the excellent Holly Hunter) , a recovering addict, can't appreciate the seriousness of what's happening.
THIRTEEN is a snapshot of modern American pre-teen life, and I came away from the film thinking about the importance of communication between parents and children. This is a film that families should watch together. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Parents' worst nightmare
Review: After seeing THIRTEEN, I searched my mental listing of friends who have a daughter approaching thirteen, and to whom I could send a copy of this DVD with the needling note, "You'll be sorrrr-ry!"

Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is an uncool 7th grader who wants to be like Evie (Nikki Reed), the coolest girl in school. Tracy manages to get Evie's notice by dressing more stylishly and demonstrating a willingness to engage in petty theft. Evie lives with a female "guardian", but manages to inveigle her way into the good graces of Tracy's Mom, Melanie (Holly Hunter), by concocting a deceptive story of physical abuse at the hands of her guardian's boyfriend. Melanie herself is a recovering alcoholic and single mother living beyond her means, but she allows Evie to move in with herself, daughter, and teenage son. Mel is so busy trying to make financial ends meet and satisfy her own emotional needs with loser boyfriend Brady (Jeremy Sisto) that she doesn't notice as her insidious and parasitic guest involves Tracy in everything on any parent's list of scary stuff: shoplifting, pre-marital sex, body piercing, marijuana and cocaine. And this is on top of Tracy's pre-existent penchant for anorexia and self-mutilation with sharp objects. Tracy is a real piece of work.

THIRTEEN is mesmerizing. It's like watching a slow-motion train wreck. Holly Hunter has received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as the well-intentioned but clueless mother. However, I don't understand why Wood didn't get one also; she's brilliant.

The film can perhaps be characterized as the worse case scenario of what befalls an emotionally isolated child coming from a broken marriage. Certainly, most such young people emerge from the experience relatively unscathed. But many don't, and THIRTEEN is a cautionary tale that should be mandatory viewing in junior high schools, parenting classes, and social service agencies.

I don't have a pre-pubescent daughter. Let me get down on my knees and thank God.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not Selling Girl Scout Cookies
Review: This film was, of course, an updated take on the well-worn theme of that proverbial fork-in-the-road presenting itself at about that age.

As I understand, this was actually written by Nikki Reed who starred in the movie as the hopelessly troubled and manipulative corrupter 'Evie'. She had the lethal combination of being one of those teens (you remember them) that everyone else seems to fall in line behind, as well as being pretty and having the a level of guidance and supervision that, were she a household pet, the Humane Society would have her owners arrested. A deadly combination that sucks the naive Tracy right in....and the long spiral downward begins.

The movie does an excellent job of repeatedly bringing this question into your mind: "If I were there right now, would I slap the daughter or the mother?" Sadly, the only recognizable anchor in Tracy's family was a recovering coke-addict. Holly Hunter, who played Tracy's mother, was a recovering alcoholic who was a kind-hearted but flawed parent that, when the inevitable moment of truth hits with a teenager, shuffle-steps and can't bring herself to do what needs to be done to avert disaster: taking the bull by the horns so firmly that these two misguided little girls see that there's no room to push further.

When the impending collapse and finger-pointing match finally does come around, it's heartbreaking to see so clearly what you couldn't as a teenager: "defining yourself" at such an age is always done on the shakiest of ground. To say that it's "tough being a teen" shouldn't ever be done tritely...it's tough as nails and I don't envy teens for a second.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW
Review: thirteen. when you here the name you may think your going to watch a movie with what YOU think thirteen year olds may do.your wrong. this movie is one of thee most dramatic and great movies ive seen for a while. it was astounding. so much drama. lots of detail of what really goes on in a thirteen year old's life. the drugs. the sex. the violence. the friendship. the parent-child relationship and much more. this movie will take you into a thirteen year old's life. be ready for it. i know i wasnt.


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