Thirteen (2002)

Oh to be young again?

I feel a need for a disclaimer here. This is a positive review, I thought Thirteen was a very good film. Okay disclaimer covered.
Imagine two hours of sitting in a pit of eels after drinking eighteen cups of coffee. That's about as uncomfortable as the two hours I spent watching Thirteen. It is a testament to the film that the material rings so true as to elicit such feelings. The phrase teenage angst has never been so woefully insufficient as in this instance. The story of Tracy and her family is so visceral and genuine that one is instantly transformed back to early post puberty and the horribly uncomfortable issues that were part and parcel of the experience. We follow Tracy as she seeks popularity through her relationship with the most popular girl in class, Evie. In this post-modern LA junior high school, popularity is as perilous as typhoid, with overt sexual availability and attenuated childhood creating beings of mature facade but illusory foundation. Inevitably Tracy and her post-modern family ferociously spiral into a decent tempered only by it's brevity. As an adult I look at the film now as both man and child and am horrified from both views. The issues of needing to belong and wanting admiration are represented as truly as film has ever managed. The issues of reckless sexuality and self destruction allow me even as one without children to know the deep fear of having your child self immolate. There are very few good feelings within this movie but oddly you do feel better for going through it. I guess that is really the ultimate and fitting compliment for the filmmakers that they have managed to take the audience through the emotions that are the beginning of the teenage years. Few films I know have had this much emotional impact. I'm not sure I'm ready for many more. July 17, 2008

This is no joke...

I've seen "Kids", Bully and all the other teens gone bad movies...Thirteen is the one that really got me! It broke my heart, and scared the hell out of me! I have a daughter (17) and this is real! It can happen if you allow it too or if your luck is bad enough for some good ole' fashion Karma to catch up 2 you. Katherine Hardwick(Lords Of Dogtown)and Nukki Reed wrote this script in a week...a semi-autobiographical telling of Reed's real life. There's drugs, sex, cutting, and alcohol running freely in Evies(Redd) world and Tracy( Woods) sees it and wants in...at what cost though? Holly Hunter sells the stressed out on the edge herself Mommy....equipped with an unsuccessful home buisness, smoking and alkie abuse herself as well as letting men abuse her too...Physiologically she sells Tracy to Evie and is a sucker for their tricks until it goes too far and Hunter's character puts her foot down and loves her daughter back home...she has to put space between Evie and Tracy, which finally happens but before you see Tracy and Evie use drugs, alcohol, sex and go thru a cutting phase that's very real...Nikki Reed is an amazing talent( recognized form Lords of Dogtown and Cherry Crush) wow!!! This girl has it in a sexy way...young but extremely sexy in her roles...she could have redone lolita and knocked it out of the park. This is a real look into the world of teen girls gone to the other side...be careful not all come back home...this is a movie for every dad and mom to watch & breathe in...it can happen to you too! the language used and the description of sex, cutting, drugs, breaking the law(theft)is truly eyeopening. July 8, 2008

Excellent cinematography. Wood's performance is spot on.

Special features could have been more extensive, but I enjoyed the audio commentary with director and actors. Evan Rachel Wood does a fantastic portrayal of Tracy. The cinematography is beautiful and fitting to the story. June 3, 2008

Reminds me of some nutcase teens I work with.

I work with teenagers and the best way for me to describe many of them is with the word "nutcases", particularly the females who often will do whatever it takes to be considered socially relevant. 13, the film, is a pure depiction of a large contingency of our current female youth culture. They are rebelling, and don't know why; they are seeking, but don't know what for. All they really want at the end of the day is a feeling of belonging and being sought after, even if they truly don't know what that means or what it will take to get it.

Holly Hunter plays the mother of a floundering teenaged girl as her daughter falls deeper and deeper into a world of teenaged angst that ultimately leaves the entire family unit besieged with an overwhelming aftertaste of pain and remorse.

This is a hard film to take, but a necessary one for those parents who might not understand their kids, but are willing to try to gain a better outlook into their bipolar little worlds. May 30, 2008

Great Example

I have 3 Girls and it show them to not do drugs and the pressure of teenagers and the dangers of peer press it's a excellent movie i would recommmend it to others May 4, 2008

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