Rating: 
Summary: Tough this one out
Review: I saw this video one day at my local video store and thought hey that looks interesting most Gay and Lesbian movies are serious but have a fun side to them as well like "Love, Valour, & Compassion". So I told myself I would get it the next time I came back well it wasn't in so I finally bought the DVD. I was not ready I have seen a lot of tough movies in my life but I could barely make it through this one. The fact that it was basedd on actual events just amplified it and I have never despised a character so as I did of Stockard Channings role as mother to Jane (Ellen Muth).
Although I must confess that I did get a great amount of joy during the dinner scene where Jane's brother calls her a dyke and she reaches across the table and throughs him across the room.
There is a lot of pain in this movie so be ready for it and tell everyone you know to watch so they can feel the real pain that some are forced to live ever day especially young teens. Then buy the Sweedish film "Show Me Love" for a gentler version but with much more excepting parents and she gets her love in the end.
Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Not a classic, but good anyway
Review: I think this is a good first coming-out story. Who cares if it's a bit 'after school special'. I still think it's a good take on the subject. I think it's great tool for parents and teens to adress the issue of coming out. Because as tollerant as the world seems, many families aren't open and accepting of the reality of thier child/sister/brother/cousin/nephew/neice/whatever being gay. No, it's not a classic film or a Classic in Lesbian entertainment. It's not even the best Lesbian love story ever, though it does do a fair treament to the emotional termoil of first love, first 'time', and first heartbreak. But it mixes all this within the struggle of a family and fairly treats the issue of coming out with the family. The first female relationship Jane has is little more than a subplot and I thought that made this film different in a good way. Usually it's the family that's reduced to a background plot while one rehashes the same ol plots seen in Hetero and Homosexual movies based on the 'romance' element. Great coming out story, decent movie, gets my recomendation for anyone looking for films dealing with this subject.
Rating:
Summary: really great movie
Review: i usually dont take time to fill out these reviews, but i think this movie is worth the time. it's a great movie, whether or not you're gay. i myself am a straight 17 yr old female, but it helped me see what others go through, and it helped my friend who recently realized she is a lesbian. everyone should see this, it teaches us about what so many people go through, as well as how we can be more tolerant. i recommend it to neone who likes to see movies about reality and life. :)
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I've seen this movie many times on lifetime and everytime i like it a little more. i love the way it shares the heart ache and dissapointment of the family, and how this girl only wants to have her parents love her like they did before she "came out of the closet." she didn't want her life to be this way, it's how she was born and her family has a hard time getting that through their heads.all in all it was a wonderful movie.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth about Jane
Review: Indeed, this movie expressed its point in a very clean and tasteful way. I liked how it wasn't raunchy like a lot of other movies that were giving the same message. It is a good drama, and I recomend it to anyone who might be looking for a decent drama.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Coming Out/Coming of Age Story
Review: Jane comes from your typical American family: she's got a mom and a dad who love her to pieces and a little brother who drives her up the wall. All seems to be fine in Jane's life until she starts high school and meets the new girl, Taylor. As their relationship develops, Jane realizes that she is falling for Taylor and soon learns the truth about her own sexuality.
Jane not only has to struggle with her own self-acceptance, but she has to deal with the treatment she is getting from the kids at school once they find out the truth about her sexuality. When Jane finally comes out to her parents, it doesn't go as well as she would have hoped. While her father struggles to accept his daughter, her mom cannot seem to do so. With the help of a good friend and a good teacher, Jane tries to help her mom understand and accept her for who she is before their relationship is destroyed forever.
This movie is so emotional and touching that you will want to watch it over and over. Never before has there been a more realistic movie on the struggles of coming out as a homosexual in today's society. Grab a box of tissues and curl up on the couch with this one. You do not want to miss this.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed but moving
Review: Okay, I admit. I'm a straight guy with a penchant for lesbian-themed movies. Sue me. "The Truth About Jane" has a lot of very serious flaws. First of all it could never shake that poorly-funded, independent/made-for-Lifetime Channel feel to it. Parts of it were extremely cheesy. As you've probably gathered from other reviewers, this film is also excessively didactic at parts, especially in the end where it quite tragically degrades (almost literally) into a promotional video for PFLAG.
However, despite all these flaws, "The Truth About Jane" won me over within the first 20 minutes. It is truly a moving and wonderful film, with brief moments of brilliance.
The story of course revolves around the young teenaged girl Jane, played by the adorable Ellen Muth. Jane is like any other girl, except of course she's fallen in love with another girl, and discovers that she is a lesbian. Muth handles her role very well, creating a believable character with whom we can identify with. She very successfully portrays the very rough experience that coming-of-age and "growing pains" can be, especially when complicated by sexual orientation.
I like how, unlike so many other lesbian-ish characters I've seen in cinema, Jane is not bisexual, nor does she suddenly decides to start liking girls after a lifetime of very happily dating boys. One of my favourite scenes was early in the movie when the "cute" boy comes to court Jane as she sits in the cafeteria with her other female friends. Whilst her friends throw a fit about how hot the guy is and how Jane should date him, Jane honestly cannot see what the big deal is. In another very good lesbian-themed movie "Show Me Love", Ellin is portrayed as a someone who was just fine dating boys until Agnes showed up in her life, which to me seems contrived. Poor Jane goes through quite a bit in the course of this movie; not just coming-out pains, but also classic heartbreak that unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with adolescence, no matter who you are. "How much can a girl take?" you ask yourself, and wish that you could just hug her and take her in.
My only problem with her character was her occasional excess in disrespect and acting out against her parents which, while understandable given the circumstances, she could have shown a lot more maturity if she had resisted the urge to stay out drinking until 4:00AM. (Same problem I had with Agnes' character in "Show Me Love") But, I suppose it accurately portrays the rebelliousness of youth. Funny I think I missed that in my own life.
Jane's relationship with Tyler was believeable, touching, and heartbreaking. However, this movie isn't about a lesbian coming-of-age romance. For better or worse, the centrepiece of the story is Jane's relationship with her mother.
Stockard Channing, who plays Jane's mother, is a respected veteran actresses who excels at slow-paced "chick flick" dramas. In the movie she "shows her chops", as the expression goes. Channing brilliantly portrays the excruciating internal turmoil her character faces. Two conflicting emotions storm within her; her love for her daughter, and her disappointment and fear at what she is. Jane's mother is a very complex character and challenging to portray. She is neither a model PLFAG mom, nor is she a heartless fundamentalist who would cast her child out for being gay. She is "everymom", so to speak. Channing is up to the challenge however, and portrays ever nuance of her character with veteran skill. We are furious at what Channing's character does, yet we cannot hate her, because we understand why she does those things, and what she's going through. The mother has a good gay friend, yet cannot accept her daughter's homosexuality. That doesn't make her evil, it just demonstrates that she is a real person. Real people are not rational creatures. In fact I applaud the film for not having Jane's mother be spiteful, then jump to total acceptance. The film is almost..."unapologetic" at showing what the mother's reactions and actions, which at times are truly disgraceful. The mother is deeply flawed, and even by the end of the film it is clear she has not yet defeated all of her prejudices. Yet she tries. She is a product of her time, and we cannot simply blame her for everything. Jane's mother's interal journey is every bit as wrenching and tumultuous as that of Jane's, but at the end they both grow tremendously and develop as complex, 3-dimensional characters.
"The Truth About Jane" is far from a perfect movie. It is indeed preachy, some might even say it's propagandistic. Particularly I found the last act of the film to be a little excessive (you'll know what I mean when you see it). I would have chosen to be a bit more subtle about it if I had made the film. But I believe it's the kind of propaganda we need, for the sake of righeousness and the moral evolution of our society. I hope this movie makes it into the hands of some parents of gay children. And everything aside, it's a very touching and entertaining story about a girl's unique journey growing up, finding herself, and taking her place in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing.
Review: Sometimes, just rare little times, it happens, that a movie really touches you. This definitly is one.
It dealt with 15 year teenage girl Jane, fell deeply in love for the first time. With another girl, taylor, the new girl in her class, she also had sex with for the first time.
Giving her pretty hard times realizing the fact, that she's gay. As well as her parents, "friends", teachers... And, that's nothing about it.
Although these stories are as different and unique, as humans theirselves, many things, that Jane has to struggle thru, came familiar to me and I wished, more people would really consider about.
It's not a teaching movie. Trust me. It has great beauty, dramatic and very intense moments. And funny ones too. My favorite: After her coming out Janes father took her for soccer game, she was never interested in her whole life, to show understanding and get to know his "new" lesbian daughter better. After she is refusing, he said: "I suppose even golf is out of discussion?!" ('Damn! Not A thing good about it!')
The characters are well played, especially Jane's, I like most. And the actress is very cute. Just the way she's holding her had, when she looks in love. And that voice! Melting.
So do what you want. But if you do not watch, you'll never know what you miss out.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film.
Review: The movie "The Truth About Jane" was an excellent production which shows the true hardships of dealing with coming out. It changed my whole outlook on the situation and made me more aware of how I act, as well as act towards others whom are of that nature. I think each and every young gay and straight person should watch this. It would help us all to understand what each person is going thru.
Rating: 
Summary: After School Special
Review: The subject of the movie is good, as is the message of tolerance but the delivery is painstakingly awful. The movie is trite and poorly acted. This just seems like a bad after school special which simply drags on for an hour and a half. Stockard Channing I enjoy highly in other films like "Six Degrees of Separation" but in this film she just seems to be making the best of the script which is a daunting task. There are better films that bring forth the same message and better capture the essence of the "out casting". I would recommend "Show Me Love" a Swedish film that does a far better job of telling a not too dissimilar story.
|
