ON SCREEN: Girls Town
eye WEEKLY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
eye WEEKLY October 10, 1996
Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ON SCREEN ON SCREEN
GIRLS TOWN
Starring Lili Taylor, Bruklin Harris, Anna Grace. Screenplay by Jim
McKay, Denise Casano, Anna Grace, Bruklin Harris, Lili Taylor.
Directed by Jim McKay. (AA) Opens Oct. 11.
(eee of 5 eyes)
As Girls Town opens we're introduced to a quartet of round-the-way
girls from racially-integrated Queens, NY: hangin', gettin' blunted
and trying to graduate from high school. Within the first reel,
however, Homeslice No. 4 -- the most promising among them -- suddenly
snuffs it. Patti (Lili Taylor), Angela (Bruklin Harris) and Emma (Anna
Grace) learn that their deceased friend was despondent over having
been raped. In their inarticulate, disorganized way, the bereaved trio
seeks some sort of retribution.
In an attempt to combine the strengths of both drama and documentary,
Girls Town wasn't written, but it was worked out in improv sessions:
the script is jointly credited to director Jim McKay and his three
talented actresses. But this is not exactly a mock-doc, as McKay can't
decide whether to stick with his fly-on-the-wall approach of long,
uninterrupted medium shots with conventional intercutting. So just
when the movie begins convincing us we're eavesdropping on real people
in real situations, McKay starts moving in for close-ups, reaction
shots, etc., and blows his cover.
Apart from a few false notes (why is Patti's boyfriend a bald slob
twice her age?) and unanswered questions (do tough, intelligent '90s
teens really kill themselves over date rape?) Girls Town's social
realism works a lot better than it has any right to. This is thanks to
the actors -- especially the superb Taylor -- who helps the movie
achieve an unforced naturalism with only occasional lapses into acting
class work-outs.
If McKay and company fail to nail the ordeals of adolescence with the
devastating accuracy of Welcome To The Dollhouse, they at least avoid
the hysterical scare-mongering of Kids. Be warned, though, of the
fairly high P.C. factor: the closing credits stress the "collective"
and "collaborative" nature of the project, while the press kit is a-
buzz with buzzwords like "solidarity" and "victimization" that can
make Girls Town seem less like cinema than sociology. -- A.P.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright
http://www.eye.net Mailing list available
collected reviews --------------------> http://www.eye.net/Arts/Movies
e...@eye.net "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421