A film by Catherine Hardwicke
Thirteen tells the story of Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), a thirteen year old girl who, up until this point, has been a good girl. She loves her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter), and listens to her. She is not a very popular girl in school, though she does have her own friends. We see her longing for a great social acceptance than what she has. When Melanie s former addict ex-boyfriend comes back into the picture despite Melanie s previous promise that he will never be back, Tracy is hurt, upset, and angry. From this she begins to take her first steps of rebellion. Evie (Nikki Reed) is one of the most popular girls in school, as well as the hottest (as described by Tracy s brother). It is obvious from the start that Tracy would like to be friends with Evie and perhaps have Evie s life.
The movie doesn t actually start here. The movie starts with Tracy and Evie (both of them then unnamed) sitting on a bed, huffing from an aerosol can, and hitting each other in the face and laughing because they can t feel their faces. The movie then moves to four months earlier when we see the more innocent Tracy, the pre-Evie Tracy. Tracy tries to get the chance to hang out with Evie, but gets brushed to the side with every opportunity. When she sees Evie shoplifting Tracy is first shocked but then very quickly sees an opportunity. Tracy steals an older woman s wallet without getting caught and runs up to Evie, tells her what she did, and shares the money. Evie and Tracy go on a little shopping spree and just like that they are inseparable.
Tracy is still fairly innocent, but the more time she spends with Evie the more she experiences: drugs, sex, alcohol, stealing, skipping classes, disobeying her mother, cursing at her mother. We watch as Tracy s life begins to spiral out of control and Melanie sees what is happening, though she does not really understand why, and she is powerless to stop it. Melanie is a recovering alcoholic herself, but she is doing the best she can as a single mother. She is all heart, and other than her relationship with the ex-boyfriend I m not sure she really does anything wrong to drive Tracy away.
That is perhaps the one flaw in this movie. I had a difficult time figuring out Tracy s motivation for rebelling. I understood the desire for social acceptance, but not the driving need for it, and the film never explained that. Despite that lack of explanation on Tracy s motivation, this movie is filled with realistic, powerful performances. I believed the characters were who they were supposed to be rather than just actors playing a role. Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed had absolutely standout roles and they both did a fine job. Younger actors always seem to be the most difficult to cast because they often sound wooden when speaking their lines, but not Evan or Nikki, they were spot on. Nikki Reed should be highlighted as well because at age 13 she co-wrote this movie with the director and is now only 16 years old. What a debut (both in acting as well as screenwriting)!
Thirteen is a movie that, if I was a parent, would scare me. It tells me that even if I don t do anything really wrong or bad, if I m not careful my daughter can still fall into the wrong crowd and go down a very harmful path. What is perhaps most frightening is that it is obvious from the movie that even before Tracy met Evie and started drinking and doing drugs that Tracy already had problems. Tracy is a cutter. When she is feeling low she locks herself in the bathroom and cuts into her forearms and just hides it with a long sleeve shirt. I thought Thirteen was a rather good movie even though it doesn t provide any answers nor does it provide a motivation for Tracy. It just says this is one possible reality for teenagers today. And that is a scary thought.
Thirteen tells the story of Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), a thirteen year old girl who, up until this point, has been a good girl. She loves her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter), and listens to her. She is not a very popular girl in school, though she does have her own friends. We see her longing for a great social acceptance than what she has. When Melanie s former addict ex-boyfriend comes back into the picture despite Melanie s previous promise that he will never be back, Tracy is hurt, upset, and angry. From this she begins to take her first steps of rebellion. Evie (Nikki Reed) is one of the most popular girls in school, as well as the hottest (as described by Tracy s brother). It is obvious from the start that Tracy would like to be friends with Evie and perhaps have Evie s life.
The movie doesn t actually start here. The movie starts with Tracy and Evie (both of them then unnamed) sitting on a bed, huffing from an aerosol can, and hitting each other in the face and laughing because they can t feel their faces. The movie then moves to four months earlier when we see the more innocent Tracy, the pre-Evie Tracy. Tracy tries to get the chance to hang out with Evie, but gets brushed to the side with every opportunity. When she sees Evie shoplifting Tracy is first shocked but then very quickly sees an opportunity. Tracy steals an older woman s wallet without getting caught and runs up to Evie, tells her what she did, and shares the money. Evie and Tracy go on a little shopping spree and just like that they are inseparable.
Tracy is still fairly innocent, but the more time she spends with Evie the more she experiences: drugs, sex, alcohol, stealing, skipping classes, disobeying her mother, cursing at her mother. We watch as Tracy s life begins to spiral out of control and Melanie sees what is happening, though she does not really understand why, and she is powerless to stop it. Melanie is a recovering alcoholic herself, but she is doing the best she can as a single mother. She is all heart, and other than her relationship with the ex-boyfriend I m not sure she really does anything wrong to drive Tracy away.
That is perhaps the one flaw in this movie. I had a difficult time figuring out Tracy s motivation for rebelling. I understood the desire for social acceptance, but not the driving need for it, and the film never explained that. Despite that lack of explanation on Tracy s motivation, this movie is filled with realistic, powerful performances. I believed the characters were who they were supposed to be rather than just actors playing a role. Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed had absolutely standout roles and they both did a fine job. Younger actors always seem to be the most difficult to cast because they often sound wooden when speaking their lines, but not Evan or Nikki, they were spot on. Nikki Reed should be highlighted as well because at age 13 she co-wrote this movie with the director and is now only 16 years old. What a debut (both in acting as well as screenwriting)!
Thirteen is a movie that, if I was a parent, would scare me. It tells me that even if I don t do anything really wrong or bad, if I m not careful my daughter can still fall into the wrong crowd and go down a very harmful path. What is perhaps most frightening is that it is obvious from the movie that even before Tracy met Evie and started drinking and doing drugs that Tracy already had problems. Tracy is a cutter. When she is feeling low she locks herself in the bathroom and cuts into her forearms and just hides it with a long sleeve shirt. I thought Thirteen was a rather good movie even though it doesn t provide any answers nor does it provide a motivation for Tracy. It just says this is one possible reality for teenagers today. And that is a scary thought.
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I saw this movie last night. Pug's review is rings true throughout. I'm naive enough that 13 seems so very young to be doing the things they were. Also incredulous that a 13 you co-wrote this movie.
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