 DVD
30 Second Bottom Line: Three girls, in boarding school, discover the difference between love for each other, their parents and love of self.
Story Line: Mary Bradford (Mischa Barton), nicknamed Mouse, is the film's narrator, who arrives at the Perkins Boarding School for the new term. Her mother died three years ago, and her father and his new wife would prefer to live alone it seems. Mary is beginning to have trouble remembering what her mother looked like; and this bothers her. Is her love for her mother diminishing as well?
Mary's depression lifts a bit when she meets her first roommate, Victoria (Jessica Pare), known as Tory. She is an outgoing, energetic person who reassures Mary that things will work out. Charging into the festivities to set off the new term, and determined to liven up the party, is the third roommate Paulie (Piper Perabo). She is a real firecracker, with her stream of four letter words and definitely a bad attitude. Paulie's issue is that her birth mother gave her up when she was less than a day old and she has never emotionally connected with her adopted parents.
Paulie has connected emotionally and physically with Tory. Mary discovers that the two are involved in a sizzling sexual relationship. It is a very loving relationship as well. They welcome Mary into their circle; not to participate sexually, but to share in the closeness and comfort they find with each other, and not their families. When Allison, also a student at Perkins, suspects that her older sister Victoria and Paulie are lovers, Victoria knows her conservative parents will not tolerate this. She must make a decision for love or comfort. Coming out of the closet is not an option from her perspective.
When it's almost certain, however, that she will be labeled a lesbian, Tory takes a sudden interest in Jake (Luke Kirby), a kid from the neighboring boy's prep school, with the hots for her. Spending time with him and making it clear to the other girls that she is sexually active is one way to turn around the rumors that she and Paulie are lesbians. And Tory shifts the blame for them being in bed together as a solely aggressive move on the part of bad girl Paulie.
Tell Me More About It: Where crazy/beautiful stayed well within the limits of PG-13, while still speaking to the teen issues of drug abuse and sexuality, Lost and Delirious and Bully push right on through R and go with "Not Rated," rather than risk NC-17. Lions Gate is a studio that is willing to present provocative, art house material, which I admire, even when the films are not among my favorites.
The lesbian love scenes show not only extensive nudity, but also French kissing and embraces where the breasts of both Perabo and Pare are in their full glory. For those of you who saw Stardom with Jessica Pare last year, you already know of her elegance, and a body that could easily grace the centerfold of Playboy magazine.
This is a good film that would have been far better were it not overloaded with symbolism. We know that Paulie misses the birth mother she has never known. Her passion for bringing an injured hawk back to health in the forest is her chance to love and be loved.
Although Paulie is a belligerent, distant and foul mouth student, it's obvious she's quite bright, as she nonchalantly solves a difficult math equation when coming to Victoria's defense in class. She also appears to know Shakespeare's Macbeth extremely well; understanding the subtlest of relationships in general and the aspects of love in particular. The sense you get of Perabo in this role is that she is overacting at the urging of the director to make a point. There was symbolism in director Lea Pool's film Set Me Free, which was subtle, and it did not detract from the overall story.
If the allusion to the raptor hawk, a symbol of aggression, and Shakespeare are not enough, we are also provided with the school gardener, Graham (Joe Menzies), who uses the seasons of the year and the nature of worms to compare to human experiences. When Mary wonders about people going back to the way they were, Graham reassures her that although winters can be long and cold, the spring comes back and things are the way they were.
As the narrator, Mary seems to be sharing her remembrances with us, perhaps journal entries from last school year. She is a keen observer, who tries to be a friend to both Paulie and Tory, even as her friends' lives and her's seems to be falling apart. Mary's fate takes a turn when her father fails to show up for a father/daughter dinner dance.
It also takes a little getting used to that Perabo would be in high school after the role she burned into your memory in Coyote Ugly as a bartender, and as an FBI agent in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
It becomes clear well before the end of the film that there will be a confrontation between Jake and Paulie. We know that Paulie is crushed by Tory's rejection. She is the only person Paulie loves who has loved her in return. When her other love, the raptor, is ready to fly away, will Paulie be ready to make her move? More importantly, what will that move be-a positive or a negative one?
In spite of the faults I have with the film, I like the fact that it deals with teenage sexuality, friendship, parents and self-discovery. If there is a message that young adults need to understand, it's that when you face emotional crises, the solutions must come from within.
While others may or may not help you, the only person you should really count on is yourself. It's much easier to say than do, but when things are really f---ed up, you have to find the strength to persevere and move on. The alternative is far less pleasant.
Mini Filmography
|
