Girl

I read the book after I saw the movie, and the book to me was less real. I thought that Andrea and her overthought, psuedo-angsty voice-overs were what made her real. She was a little rich girl who essentially knew that she wanted for nothing, yet she's searching to fill a hole that she knows isn't really there. Complete with bad poetry-like flowery language and long sighs and large gestures, I thought that Andrea in the movie was real, and Andrea in the book was flat, uninspired. I didn't even hate Todd Sparrow, as has been mentioned by other viewers. I thought that the whole movie was about stupid little people doing stupid little things and learning from them, like how it really happens. I didn't think girl was oscar material, by any means, but I think that there will be a character that everyone will see a bit of themselves in.

While the movie has some gaping holes -- I don't buy the Todd Sparrow character for a minute -- it's actually a decent film that I found myself enjoying more than I thought I would. I rented it mainly for Dominique Swain, who I think is underrated, but found myself engaged in the film. The most surprising thing -- who knew Tara Reid could actually act? And what happened? I'm not saying she's Meryl Streep in this, but really, I'd never have guessed she was capable of playing more than the blonde bimbo she's been doing since American Pie.

I watched this movie thinking "hey, there are some good actors in this, so it might be good". yeah right, i was totally wrong about that. This movie is about a teenaged girl who really, really, wants to have sex. She thinks that having sex will make her a woman. What she really wants is to have sex with a guy in a band who she idolizes and she just happens to know his sister. She can't really have him so she just loses her virginity to a guy who she deems as being "ugly" and "disgusting" yet, the actor playing him is pretty goodlooking and the guy is pretty nice to her. oh yeah, it gets worse. After this, she finally gets to have sex with the guy in the band, and so she becomes his groupie. Going around with him on his tour and having sex with him whenever possible including in a barn. After all this, she realizes that she didn't need to have sex to be a woman (duh!). The most annoying part is at the end when one of her friends says to her "You are so strong, I wish I could be more like you". what? so during this movie, we were actually supposed to like the main character? She is a doofus. Really, this movie is just a glorified, and more dramatic version of Ammerican Pie. It's all about sex, sex, and sex except the main character isnt as likeable.

When I saw this movie my last thought after previewing it was: WOW!! Finally, a movie that speaks to everyone who views it, a film that never had one dull moment in its running time! I was so amazed I had to watch it over and over again. I love Dominique Swain after watching this! I thought Sean Patrick Flanery wasn't bad either, even though I hated his character, Todd Sparrow. I liked it how this film was made when all these stars weren't as popular as they are now, like Tara Reid and Selma Blair. The film explores Dominique Swain's character coming out of her shy shell! She goes through all these emotional changes and grows stronger because of them and you really feel she has grown up by the end of the film and she's realized know one should ever use her like Todd Sparrow did throughout the whole movie up until the finale. The movie just relaxes you and takes on Andrea's journey of self-discovery of herself and the movie shows you that with a comedic outlook and I really like that touch. I give this film 8/10 stars! You'll love it like I did!

This movie was a true heartache of a film. Girl, originally a novel by Blake Nelson, was the story of a highschool girl who discovers sex and the local music scene. Both enrich her life and make her feel differently in relationships with other people. It was a well written, subtle but powerful book that affected the lives of many young women. Sadly, the movie is studio junk.

The director and screenwriter chose instead to turn this into a movie about hot highschoolers going at it and acting like groupies. Each character has been flattened out to a cutesy stereotype. For example, Tara Reid was chosen to play Cybil, who in the book is a lesbian rocker and very withdrawn. The movie really has no plot, other than Andrea chasing around Todd as if she is an NSync groupie. I felt like I watched a two hour commercial for noxema or saw a 17 magazine come to life as a movie.

If you want to watch a goofy film about over sexed teenagers, rent this movie. If you want something th more heart, read the book. Or better yet, rent Blue Car or Thirteen.