VividSimon Simply Perfect

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

rice_a_roni Hey, who wants to watch a "dark comedy" about a trailer park teen who gets knocked-up and decides she wants to tell her lifer dad about it at the upcoming prison picnic? It's got Jenna Malone in it, that girl in "Saved!" and "Donnie Darko". Sounds like fun, huh? Honestly, it totally does to me, though I tend to gravitate to dysfunctional family indy flicks. But, and I really hate to say it, this movie was a really, really boring watch - every time I looked at the DVD display I was shocked anew at how little movie time had elapsed compared to the eons it felt like. Some kind of reverse "dog years" effect kicks in when one is profoundly bored.And closing my eyes didn't help because I could still hear the atrocious dialog. I found myself wondering aloud how much of it was ad-libbed because I couldn't imagine anyone would sign on to the script if the lines I was hearing were actually put to paper. Whatever the secret to its non-success, the end result was the same: either the writer, the cast, or both were unable to milk anything from the weak setup almost every scene was saddled with. Yes, there was the occasional one-liner that was obviously too witty to have been made up on the spot - but those bright spots stuck out like sore thumbs because they were drowned in oceans of pointless, rambling, non-interactive dialog. You could probably scrape together enough of those snappy lines to make a good trailer, but that I can't confirm as there was no trailer supplied on the DVD (for this movie anyway - lame - I consider the inclusion of a trailer the minimum standard for "special" features).Also the half-hearted suicide scenes were not fun at all to watch - not because I imagined that she would actually kill herself (this time), but because such botched attempts in real-life would likely yield permanent neck injuries or severed wrist tendons, so I was left with nothing but a cringing response. The plastic spork, the broken photo frame glass, and the flimsy macrame noose tied with a bad knot to the rickety old branch (which of the three will give out, you wonder, because one absolutely must for this overly simplistic movie to drearily continue), I mean, come on. And the suicider as a humorous element has been to much better effect in other movies ("Crimes of the Heart" comes to mind), though I can never fully get into it myself.I don't make the rules, but the bottom line is movies that don't have much in the way of action must then rely on and have some kind of payout in the dialog department. The cardinal sin of this movie is that it has nether. Maybe for dyed-in-the-wool Jenna Malone fans, definitely for film school freshmen who need instruction on how NOT to make a movie, others should sit this one out (consider yourself warned). After our viewing the DVD went immediately into the "give it away, sell it, but for pity's sake keep it away from the collection or we might accidentally watch it again someday" pile. Two stars.

Claudio Carvalho The needy teenager Rena Grubb (Jena Malone) lives with her dysfunctional family of losers in a trailer park. The most popular boy in her school is dating her only for sex, and does not want to be seen with her. Her brother Jay (Brad Renfro) is gay; her older half-sister Barbie (Alicia Witt) is a bitch; and her mother Madge (Michelle Forbes) works hard in several low-qualification jobs to raise money to support her family. Rena is asking her mother to go to the annual picnic with her beloved missing low-fife father John Grubb (Chris Mulkey), who is in prison sentenced to two life sentences. Rena is pregnant and collects the cards her father sends to her from the prison. When Madge decides to go with her family to the picnic, and along the day, the family finds how mean and nasty John is, shattering the dreams of Rena with her father."Confessions of an American Girl" is a weird movie, with a genre oscillating between a heavy drama and a very dark comedy. The cast is excellent with great performances, highlighting Jena Malone in the role of a complex needy girl that wishes to be loved and worships her father, but in the end she discovers the truth about him. Alicia Witt is extremely sexy, her character is despicable and her performance is so good that Barbie irritated me in many moments with her mean attitude. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Confissões de uma Garota Americana" ("Confessions of an American Girl")

MagicStarfire Well, it means, you and your family are all losers and dumber than dirt, unfortunately.The film's central character is Rena Grubb (Jena Malone), a young teenage girl. I don't know Rena's exact age, maybe 13 or 14. She lives in a trailer park with her mother, older brother Jay, and older half-sister, Barbie. Rena's father, John, is in prison serving two life sentences.Rena is not happy. She makes several suicide attempts. Nor does she have much reason to be happy all things considered.She's being used by the popular boy in school, who doesn't even want to be seen in public with her, and then she gets pregnant by him. Her own mother's first pregnancy was at 15 - and the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, evidently.One thing Rena is hanging onto is thoughts of her Daddy. He got sent away when she was very young, so she has only scant memories of him. She feels Daddy not being there is why things are going so badly for her and the family.Rena finally badgers her mother into all of them attending the picnic at the prison and seeing John.A whole lot of truths are revealed during that family picnic at the prison.To say much more would give too much away so I'll stop at this point, and say only that the film was excellent. It is a dark comedy at times, poignant at other times and held my interest completely.All the performers gave 100% to their roles.10 stars.

Corrie I enjoyed this movie. Quite a bit, actually.Jena Malone is a great actress, and like another reviewer said, she's destined for truly great things. I think this film really showed that off. She's got a great talent that's barely been tapped, and I know that we'll be seeing her in other movies in the near future. If she's able to make a smooth transition into adult roles, I can see her as a leading lady in the not-too-distant future. The story about a teenage girl traveling to visit her father in prison for the annual picnic seems boring and uninteresting, but a great supporting cast and excellent direction makes it well worth watching.If you like indie films, this is one to check out.