Rating: 
Summary: A Passionate if Flawed Character Drama
Review: Sometimes what we fear most can become our only savior. Sometimes our only way out is into the arms of the ones that everyone else steers clear of. Sometimes too much compassion and too little self-control can lead a person to do the worst. Sometimes all we need is a chance, and a little bit of forgiveness, and sometimes running away will land us in more trouble than its worth. In Karen Moncrieff's BLUE CAR, we come to grips with this and many other ideas. But in the end we come to the conclusion that maybe some people need a break, and other just need to smile a little bit more.Meg (Agnes Bruckner, Murder By Numbers) is a bright and pretty girl who has a gift for writing poetry. Her teacher Mr. Auster (David Straithern, Simon Birch) sees promise in her poems and pushes Meg to dig deep into her soul, to pour out her feelings onto the page. You see Meg has a very complicated her life. Her father has divorced her mother, her mother is constantly abused by her boyfriend, her sister Lily won't eat and spends lot of time cutting herself, and Meg doesn't really have any direction. Poetry and her time with Mr. Auster is her way out. But when things start getting too tough, Mr. Auster's compassion turns into affection and the Meg's world begins to come crashing down. I find it funny that there are so many movies about this kind of teacher/student relationship are made. When I was in high school the thought of getting anywhere near my English teacher seems well just sick. But it works in BLUE CAR because the film begins to play with your head a little bit. It opens a door into the psyche of a man who wants so much to help and yet also loves to hurt. David Straithern plays his role with a lot of subtlety and charm. His actions in the film are reprehensible. His actions are evil. But he's just as broken. He's a child trapped in the body of an adult. He's been hardened by the life that screwed him. While he must pay for his crimes, you can see where his pain and awful power stem from. Agnes Bruckner plays her part with a certain kind of raw power. She's such a young talent, but also plays the part in a way that is very mature. Meg is a child trying to be an adult. It only at the moment of truth when we realize how vulnerable and young she really is. How easily manipulated she has become. Her struggle for survival is unnecessary and yet all she really needs is someone to reach out to her. BLUE CAR is the kind of movie you really want to praise and yet it's missing something. Maybe it should have been lighter; maybe it should have been less melodramatic. The story fails because it begins and ends in the same place. It's too sorrowful. The best character's can laugh even when times are bad. BLUE CAR seems to wallow in its sadness. Trying to tack on a hopeful ending. That being said BLUE CAR is not a bad film. It's got performances that are pitch perfect. I just wished the plot had overcome its dour tone. If you're looking for a fascinating character study, I give Blue Car a chance. If you're looking for some lighter fair, this is not the movie for you. **** (Out of 5)
Rating: 
Summary: Afterschool Special Par Excellence!
Review: The acting isn't awful, but the script is horrendously trite.
What stands in for "poetry" in the film is such sentimental drivel, it's as though the writer/director wasn't aware that romanticism in poetry has been dead since Yeats. Ten minutes into the film, it becomes unabashedly clear that the filmmaker had never read any Ezra Pound--it's the kind of film which would have us believe the a poem is just a coded stand-in for that age old "river of emotional depth" which only poetic verse and sentimental teachers can wrestle out of high school students on the verge of cliche breakdowns. I felt bad for laughing aloud when the poems were read on screen, but it was so bad it was funny! Simply put, "Blue Car" uses stock "abused and abandoned" characters hardly more moving than cardboard cut-outs with stenciled-in tears. Yes, it even rains at the funeral! The only amazing feat of the film is that, somehow, the actors manage with such a banal and bland script. Usually I like Fetzer's reviews, but this time he's completely off, unless, of course, you like to be whipped in the face with the "just-trying-to-make-ends-meet" family schlock that resembles those fine ABC afterschool specials of the 1980s. But at least we're allowed to laugh at those!
Rating: 
Summary: "You Can Go Deeper"
Review: The featured review quote on the cover of "Blue Car" compares the film (favorably) to "American Beauty." This tells me two things: the reviewer in question didn't watch the film very carefully, and the distributor didn't know how to market it. With films of this quality, neither of these things is exactly a rare occurrence.
"Blue Car" is an extremely unique film, and nothing on the front or back covers of the DVD does much to prepare you for it. I was expecting a completely different movie, and so the story wound up sideswiping me, taking me by surprise and leaving me an emotional wreck when it was over. It's an honest, unflinching film, with a clarity of feeling lacking in many more clever movies.
The film is the story of Meg, a suburban latchkey kid with a mother who's always working, a father who rarely makes the child support payments, and a younger sister who's a world all unto herself. Meg has aspirations to be a writer, to express herself and make her voice heard, and a teacher who might be willing to help her. If it sounds trite or predictable, then think again. My short description is where the movie starts out; where it goes from there will keep you watching irresistably the whole way through, and I guarantee you'll be surprised and moved by the end of it. Meg's story is that of many girls as they grow into their fondest wishes, full of the hope, the disappointment, and the rage that comes along for the ride.
The movie is told in strikingly simple, unflashy visuals and natural dialogue. The acting is all top-notch, with believeable, honest (I keep using that word) performances from all concerned, including David Straithairn as Meg's teacher, an actor who I always enjoy seeing. His role in particular will keep you guessing all the way to the end. The music chosen and composed for the film serves it well, enhancing and augmenting the scenes without distracting from them. Two Lori Carson songs are especially effective in this regard.
In a way, I can see why the reviewer compared "Blue Car" to "American Beauty" -- one element of both stories is superficially similar. But the core of the story of "Blue Car" is so completely different, and its overall effect so distant from that of "American Beauty," that I find the comparison rather disappointing. Anybody reading that review will be expecting something very different than the movie "Blue Car" turned out to be. "American Beauty" was encouraging the viewer to "look closer" and to think about what they saw. In "Blue Car," we are repeatedly entreated to "go deeper" and to face the feelings we find at the center of the film. "Blue Car" contains a raw emotional intensity and honesty that is extremely rare in modern film, and this alone makes the film a worthy journey to take.
Challenge yourself a little. Watch "Blue Car" and go deeper.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This film isnt perfect, and its not your basic storyline. Its not always a happy ending, but if you like the kind of movies where you can really relate to the characters, and where the storyline is realistic (not fake) then i definetly reccommend checking out. If your a fan of movies like Thirteen and Ghost World, i think you'll enjoy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: could be better but fell short far and wide
Review: trying very hard to tell something about a girl's painful, disappointing desire and loss, but fell short and ultimately became a quite boring and slow-motion film. the whole setting of this film is purposely gone slow, trying to make the life and the world kinda slow and bored. i've remembered several similar films almost like twins to this movie, but they were better and faster spaced. the young girl is a promising actor if she knows how to enhance and self-restrain herself during her growing stages.
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