Rating: 
Summary: The single greatest film of 2003 - haunting and lyrical
Review: I FINALLY got the chance to see "All The Real Girls" at my local movie theater (only four days from its DVD release no less), and as I walked into it, I realized how much I'd built the film up in my mind. Since near the beginning of the year, I'd looked forward to seeing Green's follow-up to the atmospheric, cerebral "George Washington." Did "Girls" live up to my expectations? Yes, and more. Since I saw it, I have been haunted every single minute by it - yes, that sounds hokey and overwrought, but it's true. I can hear the film's opening song, shots go through my head - thank God I bought the DVD, because I'd be running to the theater just to satisfy my yearning. The paradoxical deal with this is, "All The Real Girls" isn't perfect, but it makes such a strong imprint on the viewer, its little imperfections work together to go into the marrow of the love story it portrays. The ups and downs of the film literally become the ups and downs of the love story that we see on film. The last movie I have seen that has literally embodied the story it told like this has been "Wings of Desire," which is a pretty lofty comparison, but totally appropriate. I loved "All The Real Girls," and find myself returning to its haunting, lyrical images and words like the comfort of a blanket or a good book. No other movie I've seen this year has made such an impression. David Gordon Green's work is like no other out there. It's a film school dork's dream - a movie made up of a bunch of film school buddies that turns out to be one of the finest independent features of recent years. Don't miss it, and be ready to be entranced when you eventually do see it.
Rating:
Summary: Love Without the Story
Review: I first "met" David Gordon Green last year, on a lazy, hazy summer day. He came into my living room and presented me with his debut, titled GEORGE WASHINGTON. He introduced me, first and foremost, to his director of photography, Tim Orr, and then to his kids, the kinds of kids you've seen from a distance, maybe playing in a park or running past you on a city street, but you ignored because they couldn't possibly have anything worthwhile to say. But in their chests beat poetic hearts, the kind that see through hands into the bone. The heart, as it happens, seems to be at the core of Green's work. It takes center stage in GIRLS, which essentially boils down to boy sleeps around, then boy meets girl, then boy and girl fall in love, then....nothing. That's it. Simple, but far from simplistic. Written by Green from a story by Green and star Paul Schneider, ALL THE REAL GIRLS takes a universal premise and injects it with such singular and unpretentious beauty, both visually (care of GEORGE WASHINGTON DP Orr) and rhythmically, that what emerges is less a story than cinematic truth. With a love story, that's an astonishing accomplishment. Green sets the tone of the film with the opening scene, in which Paul (Schneider) and Noel (Zooey Deschanel) have already come together. There are no Meet Cutes here. She wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss her back, probably for the first time knowing why he wants to kiss a girl, but he knows his past, and more importantly, so does Noel's older brother, Paul's best friend Tip (Shea Whigham), and he can't bring himself to do it. Their compromise is an in-between moment, the kind love deals in almost exclusively, where you've begun a moment that you don't know how to end, so you do the first thing that comes to your mind and inevitably it leads to something else. In the next scenes we meet Paul up close, his friends, his town, and we are given glimpses into the mechanics of his everyday relationships. These scenes are subtly informed with history, through in-jokes and familiarity. We hear the gossip. We see some of the local haunts and the ever present mill. Noel, who has been away at an all girls boarding school, has not yet returned home, but the boys talk about her. She's introduced casually, the way such important people often are, and Paul stumbles, as we might, onto a friendship without a friendship's boundaries. Tip is enraged to find his sister warming so cozily to Paul, knowing what he does about Paul's past. Or maybe there's more to it. Paul's mother, Elvira, played almost unrecognizably under a brunette thatch of unkempt hair by the great Patricia Clarkson, wonders if Noel is good enough for her son, but more tellingly she wonders if her son is good enough for Noel. In this relationship we observe the seed of Paul's way with women. His easygoing charm, wit and comfort with women are a byproduct of the everyday flirtation he shares with his mother. Basically the film takes off from there, but this is a film where what happens is not nearly as important as how it happens. Love is not literal. It does not express itself in monologues and perfectly timed one liners and neatly packaged conflict-climax-resolution where dialogue is the set up and sex the punchline. Love is irregular, asymmetrical, unruly. Conversation is exploration, not exposition. You take steps blindly into large-mouthed moments. Green strings together vignettes, lit naturally by Orr, where Paul and Noel fumble around one other, searching for the best part of themselves in the other. But neither knows what to look for, and neither knows the way to find it. That the film understands love in such a fundamental way is what transcends the storytelling. You feel this love exists because it does not pretend to know what it does not know. ALL THE REAL GIRLS, in the end, is not a story of how things begin or end, but how they continue. As in life or love, there is no resolution, only mistakes to be made, forgiveness to be asked for and lessons to be learned.
Rating: 
Summary: Proper Niceness
Review: I had been meaning to see this movie in London because of the praiseworthy and intriguingly personal reviews I had read in the paper press. I missed it of course, seeing as it was ever only playing at 1PM showings at one or zero inordinately expensive Central London cinemas. This is a shame because it is one of the most effecting movies I have seen in roughly a week (Lost in Translation and Girl With A pearl Earring are both excellent also) and more people deserve to see it. A beautiful story of a boy and a girl in love. That's it. It's amazingly rare to find special relationships such as love when young as accurately portrayed in modern cinema as this film achieves. The female role played by Zooey Deschanel is tender and subtle while the male role played by Paul Schraider is strong yet emotional. You couldn't ask for a better on screen chemistry between, all about looks, what is not said, the silences. The heartache and longing is all there also, as well as the comic relief (it ain't all weepy and heavy sighs). Go buy this film, it is well worth it, you'll be talking about it with friends afterwards. The extras are good also, the writer and director David Gordon Green is a revelation, full of insight and intellectual depth about what he wanted to achieve, it makes you feel contented that there is a guy out there who is prepared to challenge film-making assumptions. Watch this guy for the future.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and real story of love in a small town
Review: I saw this film at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and enjoyed it immensely. The cinematography is beautiful and the diologue is compelling. Anyone who has lived in a small rural town will recognize the relationships between these characters and the some of the ways they pass the time. Overall, a rich and layered film. See it!
Rating: 
Summary: Proceed with my warning
Review: I usually only review movies/DVDs I enjoyed, hence HEATHERS, LUCAS, and other 80s gems. Same goes with in-theatre releases. ALL THE REAL GIRLS is an exception. Why? I rented it a few months ago. Judging by the cover and the back synopsis, it looked like it could be a fun indie drama. Up-and-coming Zooey Deschanel is very likeable. It is not a fast-paced drama. It is a slow-paced, placid type of drama. Some people may like and prefer these. I do not think I do. Zooey plays a teenage girl of a small, sleepy town. Her name is Noel and this movie accounts her falling-in-love experience with Paul, a player. Neither has been in a serious relationship before. Basically, Zooey is the angel-in-disguise who will save Paul (played by Paul Schneider) from his womanizing ways. Puh-leeze. Is Paul supposed to be a teenager? He looks about 30 years old and next to a fresh-faced and young Zooey, this looks utterly ridiculous. The dialogue was weak and limp enough to make me shriek. The performances were dreadful. Well, Schneider's was, anyway. Zooey, in my honest opinion, has yet to give a truly terrible performance. Still, her performance in ALL THE REAL GIRLS was mediocre. People have hailed this a "realistic character study." I hail it "boring and not worth a single watch." And the only reason I am posting a review, mind you, is because my Daddy picked it up for me to watch over the weekend, not knowing I had already seen it. I just want to save my fellow peers from this same unnerving situation. This movie truly sucks beyond sucking, although it may have had the potential to be something good, perhaps even great. Please stay away, for your own good. If all lovey-dovey films were as bad as this, cynics would have every right to state their claim. Young love has never been so dull and bereft of life.
Rating:
Summary: Proceed with my warning
Review: I usually only review movies/DVDs I enjoyed, hence HEATHERS, LUCAS, and other 80s gems. Same goes with in-theatre releases. ALL THE REAL GIRLS is an exception. Why? I rented it a few months ago. Judging by the cover and the back synopsis, it looked like it could be a fun indie drama. Up-and-coming Zooey Deschanel is very likeable. It is not a fast-paced drama. It is a slow-paced, placid type of drama. Some people may like and prefer these. I do not think I do. Zooey plays a teenage girl of a small, sleepy town. Her name is Noel and this movie accounts her falling-in-love experience with Paul, a player. Neither has been in a serious relationship before. Basically, Zooey is the angel-in-disguise who will save Paul (played by Paul Schneider) from his womanizing ways. Puh-leeze. Is Paul supposed to be a teenager? He looks about 30 years old and next to a fresh-faced and young Zooey, this looks utterly ridiculous. The dialogue was weak and limp enough to make me shriek. The performances were dreadful. Well, Schneider's was, anyway. Zooey, in my honest opinion, has yet to give a truly terrible performance. Still, her performance in ALL THE REAL GIRLS was mediocre. People have hailed this a "realistic character study." I hail it "boring and not worth a single watch." And the only reason I am posting a review, mind you, is because my Daddy picked it up for me to watch over the weekend, not knowing I had already seen it. I just want to save my fellow peers from this same unnerving situation. This movie truly sucks beyond sucking, although it may have had the potential to be something good, perhaps even great. Please stay away, for your own good. If all lovey-dovey films were as bad as this, cynics would have every right to state their claim. Young love has never been so dull and bereft of life.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't get into it
Review: I watched thismovie for like half an hour before turning it off. It was a slow story with monotone dialogue. I was disappointed since I like Deschanel so much.
Rating:
Summary: Its strengths ultimately work against it
Review: I won't rehash the plot for you, which many previous reviewers have done quite well. To say this is a movie about "young love" doesn't give enough credit to the many layers. We see how this love affair affects not only the couple, but those close to them...friends, parents, previous lovers, etc. It is a tenderly made movie, slow to develop. No one really makes any brilliant speeches that feel like a writer labored over them...yet the people are talking all the time. Their emotions are right there to be understood by any feeling, thinking person. It's a rare thing to feel such EMPATHY for characters. In many of the scenes, we are right there with them. The filmmaker, working with a miniscule budget, has made the choice to let the ambient sounds of this little factory town just kinda wash over most of the scenes. We can almost imagine that we're looking and listening out of a window, eavesdropping on the conversations of others. This makes us realize how often when we observe film, we are being "manipulated" by professionals...ALL THE REAL GIRLS feels real. It's a heady experience, and we draw close to these characters in a way we don't often. I'm not saying that more "Hollywood" movies don't make us care about the characters...it just FEELS a little different here, and that is a kick. Everyone in the movie is excellent...but I especially commend the two women. Patricia Clarkson (so brilliant in FAR FROM HEAVEN) gives another effortless performance here. I believe an Oscar lies in her not too distant future. SHe just needs to be in a movie seen by a few more people. And Zooey Deschanel is capable of being one of our GREAT young actresses. She is attractive in a totally believable way. She has a naturalistic, unself-conscious manner...mixed with some genuine quirkiness. I like her a lot! Towards the end of the movie, the central relationship runs into some MAJOR roadblocks. These are painful, and we are eager for a "Hollywood" resolution. It doesn't come...but neither does an emotional payoff. We see how the characters lives are changed...how they develop in their understands. But somehow, just when we should be feeling it most, the characters suck their emotions into themselves...leaving us, their sympathetic viewers, out in the ocld. So, although I totally admire the movie, the craft, the totally convincing performances...I ended up leaving the movie theater feeling let down. I'm not saying the movie needed a "happy ending" or a "tear-jerker" moment...but it does take the naturalistic approach just a bit too far...it needed just a bit more "plot." By all means take a look at this movie, though. The Razor-sharp dialogue and great acting make it worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Its strengths ultimately work against it
Review: I won't rehash the plot for you, which many previous reviewers have done quite well. To say this is a movie about "young love" doesn't give enough credit to the many layers. We see how this love affair affects not only the couple, but those close to them...friends, parents, previous lovers, etc. It is a tenderly made movie, slow to develop. No one really makes any brilliant speeches that feel like a writer labored over them...yet the people are talking all the time. Their emotions are right there to be understood by any feeling, thinking person. It's a rare thing to feel such EMPATHY for characters. In many of the scenes, we are right there with them. The filmmaker, working with a miniscule budget, has made the choice to let the ambient sounds of this little factory town just kinda wash over most of the scenes. We can almost imagine that we're looking and listening out of a window, eavesdropping on the conversations of others. This makes us realize how often when we observe film, we are being "manipulated" by professionals...ALL THE REAL GIRLS feels real. It's a heady experience, and we draw close to these characters in a way we don't often. I'm not saying that more "Hollywood" movies don't make us care about the characters...it just FEELS a little different here, and that is a kick. Everyone in the movie is excellent...but I especially commend the two women. Patricia Clarkson (so brilliant in FAR FROM HEAVEN) gives another effortless performance here. I believe an Oscar lies in her not too distant future. SHe just needs to be in a movie seen by a few more people. And Zooey Deschanel is capable of being one of our GREAT young actresses. She is attractive in a totally believable way. She has a naturalistic, unself-conscious manner...mixed with some genuine quirkiness. I like her a lot! Towards the end of the movie, the central relationship runs into some MAJOR roadblocks. These are painful, and we are eager for a "Hollywood" resolution. It doesn't come...but neither does an emotional payoff. We see how the characters lives are changed...how they develop in their understands. But somehow, just when we should be feeling it most, the characters suck their emotions into themselves...leaving us, their sympathetic viewers, out in the ocld. So, although I totally admire the movie, the craft, the totally convincing performances...I ended up leaving the movie theater feeling let down. I'm not saying the movie needed a "happy ending" or a "tear-jerker" moment...but it does take the naturalistic approach just a bit too far...it needed just a bit more "plot." By all means take a look at this movie, though. The Razor-sharp dialogue and great acting make it worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Emotions Into Words
Review: In a small industrial town, Paul (Paul Schneider) has fallen in love with his best friend's sister, Noel (Zooey Deschanel). Noel's brother Tip (Shea Whigham) disapproves of the relationship because he knows Paul's ways with women. Together Tip and Paul acquired a reputation for loving and leaving most of the town's available young women. But now they are both a little older, and Paul has found a woman whom he loves to talk to and listen to. Paul desperately wants his relationship with Noel to be different from his past dalliances. Their romance goes well until a decision that Noel makes drives a wedge between them, leaving Noel at loose ends and Paul distraught and angry. "All the Real Girls" is a film that concentrates uniquely on the interrelationships between a small group of people in a town where you may get the feeling that not much goes on outside of interpersonal relationships. The film was written and directed by David Gordon Green. I have to say that I have never seen emotions articulated this clearly in a film. The degree to which these characters tell each other precisely what they are feeling was almost startling until I got used to it. Paul and Noel are two young people in love for the first time and struggling to make their first serious relationship work. What makes them unique is that, instead of being afraid to share their feelings with one another, they constantly tell each other all of their hopes, frustrations, shortcomings, and anything else they might be thinking about. I doubt that this is remotely realistic in any relationship, but it is interesting to watch and wonder if this kind of openness would actually help or hurt a relationship, or make no difference at all. I give the film only 3 stars, though, for a couple of reasons. "All the Real Girls" greatest fault is that there is no chemistry between the two lead actors, and not once was I convinced that the two characters were in love, despite what they were saying. This is a serious flaw because Paul and Noel's relationship is the focal point of the story. The film is also very talky, as you may have inferred. Add to this the fact that the film's pace is unnecessarily languid, and I think that it will not maintain the attention of most moviegoers. I recommend "All the Real Girls" to those who traditionally like talky relationship movies. You might find something unique in this one. But I think that most moviegoers won't enjoy it.
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