Plot: What’s it about?
Andrea Marr (Dominique Swain) is like most girls her age (eighteen) and she wants to have fun, be popular with her peers, find a cool boyfriend, and get some action. That’s right Andrea is on a quick path toward sex and she can’t wait until she arrives, so she can leave her girlish self behind and become a full fledged woman. But while she is a horny she devil on the inside, Andrea is a straight A student with real goals and such on the inside. In other words she wants to be cool and popular, but she is basically uncool at heart. So she changes her appearance often and tries to hang with cool people, even going to concerts and such in an effort to meet more hip folks. At one such concert she meets a guy who she later loses her virginity to, but she finds him to be boring even though he has all the qualities she wants in a man. She’s now gotten some play, but Andrea still feels like a girl inside and continues her quest for womanhood. Soon she meets a cheesy musician Todd (Sean Patrick Flanery) and she falls head over heels for this character. As she tries to win his affections she sees that he treats her badly in several ways, but she keeps on to try to win his heart over. Is Todd the right man for Andrea? Is Andrea ever going to become a woman? Will the vagina boys ever fight back? Tune in to find out the answers to these and other questions.
This movie went under my radar for some reason, as I had never even heard of it before I sat down to do this review. I am a big fan of teen aimed movies and I love Dominique Swain, so I expected to be pleased with this film. While I did like the movie for the most part, I would have liked more comedy and less heartfelt moments. I mean aside from Swain the cast is fairly weak and while they can do comedy, they fare worse when trying to seem dramatic. So when the focus is on the laughs this movie succeeds, but when dramatics are involved it slips down more than a few notches. But with the comedy sequences, Swain’s excellent lead, and a couple solid supporting roles this movie turns out much better than it might have. I do think that if you remove Swain, this film falls apart in all respects. She serves as a base for the film and manages to hold it all together, which is impressive for her young age and experience. So if you like teen aimed movies and want to see yet another one, Girl is a good choice although I recommend you watch it before you buy it.
This hip and cool teen flick was directed by Jonathan Kahn, who makes his feature film debut with this one. While Kahn does a stable turn behind the camera, he lacks the shine and polish a more experienced (talented, maybe?) director would show in his place. I mean, there isn’t much you can do with a movie like, but you can put some type of style into it at some point. At least Kahn could have worked more with the cast to pull some better performances from some of them, but that doesn’t appear to have happened either. If Kahn is going to return to direct more motion pictures, I hope he can develop some style or at least use someone else’s to effective ends. This film is owned by Dominique Swain, no two ways about it. You pull her out of this one and it becomes a worthless venture. Swain (Lolita, Face/Off) commands the screen when she appears and I can’t wait for more of her work. Selma Blair (Down To You, Cruel Intentions) gives a nice, understated performance here and spikes the film’s value up a tad. The rest of the cast turns in performances that range from decent to abysmal and includes Summer Phoenix (SLC Punk, Committed), Sean Patrick Flanery (Powder, Suicide Kings), Channon Roe (Boogie Nights, Can’t Hardly Wait), and Tara Reid (Around The Fire, American Pie).
Video: How does it look?
Girl is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a full frame version included on the disc’s flip side. This is a fine visual presentation in all respects, as I found no flaws with the source print used and compression is smooth and free from artifacts. The colors seem bold and rich, with no evidence of smears and flesh tones are natural at all times. The contrast is in order also, with no visible detail loss and complex, detailed shadow layering also. Another tip top transfer from the fine folks over at Columbia/Tristar!
Audio: How does it sound?
This release uses a 2.0 surround track which is more than adequate to handle this soundtrack and dialogue driven flick. This track is the most active when the soundtrack is kicked in, but it is still a dialogue driven movie for the most part. The music does sound very good though, as do the subtle effects that emerge. But the real focus in this mix is the dialogue, which comes across in clean and crisp fashion with no volume troubles in the least. You’ll also find English, Spanish, and French subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This isn’t a special edition by any means, but this disc does contain some nice bonus materials. To start off, you’ll find theatrical trailers for this and other Columbia/Tristar teen aimed films and some talent files. Next is a six and a half minute featurette, which contains interviews with most of the major players and the director. I would prefer a more in depth one in most cases, but this just isn’t deep enough of a movie to warrant a deep featurette. The final supplement is an audio commentary track with director Jonathan Kahn and actor Dominique Swain, which makes for an interesting listen. I wouldn’t say it is near the best of the ones I have heard, but Swain makes it worth checking out.
