Odd Girl Out

Superior made-for-TV effort. The director, an experienced horror flick maker, has a field day playing with the evil that is produced from warehousing many unwanted kids in government run schools. There is haunting music, harsh lighting and sinister dark shadows in most every school scene. The actors all play their parts well. The drama and emotions are driven far beyond the limits of most TV movies. I watched this film with a young adult who was recently teased and shunned by her group of friends. Wow, did ODD GIRL OUT ever hit a raw nerve with her, and judging from comments posted by other viewers, it has the power to expose deep hurts in many other viewers as well.

Along with the art and drama, there are many super-nice female forms to appreciate. Excellent job LIFETIME Channel!

I usually have much fun in deriding all of the bad Lifetime movies that my wife watches all the time. I caught this one about 15 minutes in, and kept watching too. It was pretty good. The acting is decent, and the director and writer do a good job of spacing out and escalating the bullying that the girl endures. I thought it was also good how the main character, as she keeps getting bullied, continues to try to find a way back into her crowd. Because, it's realistic. People put up with all kinds of crap to get accepted into a clique. And, the mom's performance was solid too, realizing too late but trying everything she could be figure out why her daughter was getting more and more upset. Good flick. I'd watch it again.

I watched this movie the first night it was shown on lifetime....and I cried....I am Vanessa....I am an odd girl out....I have been made fun of...humiliated....teased.....and every single thing that Vanessa went through/ did I have went through and I have done....I think everything in this movie was done perfectly. It shows girls that high school is hell and you have to know how to deal with it. Girls are mean and they will be mean no matter what...I am a senior in high school with less than 3 months left and people still start with me for no reason and try to bring me down. I was amazed at this movie and I think every teenage girl should watch this. Especially those that bully/tease....they need to realize that they are NOT perfect what so ever...and that all of the teasing they do can have horrible effects. It wont stop any of them...but maybe they would be a little less harsh or at least have some sympathy.

The very overrated 2004 flick "Mean Girls" was praised by critics for its "biting" and "accurate" portrayal of clique-y high school girls. Please, "Mean Girls" is so tame, so glossy it should have been called "'Valley Girl' with PMS". Just a year after "Mean Girls"'s release, Lifetime released "Odd Girl Out", a terrifying tragic tale of adolescent cruelty. Based on Rachel Simmons's nonfiction book of the same name, "Odd Girl Out" is a stylized but painfully realistic look at how teenage girls will attack each other not with four-letter words or fists, but with rumors, dirty looks, and any form of underhanded bullying. "Odd Girl Out" reveals the 21st century's newest form of torment: cyber-bullying.

Our protagonist Vanessa (Alexa Vega, "Spy Kids") is an A-student comfortably situated in her popular clique of friends. When fair weather friend Niki (played by appropriately unattractive Elizabeth Rice) becomes jealous of Vanessa's social standing, she decides to take her down a peg by turning Vanessa's shallow best friend Stacy (Leah Pipes) against her and spreading hateful rumors and gossip. Gossip turns into thinly veiled insults ("That tray looks really heavy," one girl sneers at Vanessa during lunch), which in turn become relentless abuse (a web site dedicated to insulting Vanessa is put up). Vanessa tries her best to ignore this undeserved mistreatment, but the emotional pain becomes too much for her to bear. Vanessa's self-esteem and life begin to crumble, and her mother (Lisa Vidal) desperately struggles to help her anguished daughter.

As someone who was picked on (albeit not as badly) in middle school, I must say this movie is right on the mark. This is really how middle school girls behave: they'll simply choose their victim and attack at random. No rhyme, no reason, they are driven by their own self-absorption and insecurities. I'll admit it, "Odd Girl Out" made me cry for myself, for poor Vanessa, and anyone else who was victimized at that age. Vega is astonishingly good as Vanessa, who is forced to go through pure hell scene after scene. You really see the desperation and loneliness reflected in her sad brown eyes. Vidal is also in fine form as Vanessa's loving but somewhat clueless mom. Rice, Pipes, and Alecia Moore are realistic as the pack of former friends who torture Vanessa.

Some people complain that "Odd Girl Out" plays too much like a horror movie. Anyone who agrees with that sentiment obviously never attended public middle school.

I watched the movie on Monday and I believed it touched many lives, even young men. Vanessa character I thought showed her growing towards the end. She gained confidence of not having or needing to appease Stacy and the others. I enjoyed the scene where Vanessa's mother, gave her an example of an incident in her life. This helped Vanessa to come down off the defensive and communicate with her mother. Therefore, it showed strength in her character with the help of a new friend. I don't believe the lighting was bad at all in the classroom scenes. In watching on my television the lighting was adequate.

I did notice a scene that the actress was in a different position than the actual shot. When editing how many times are scenes looked over? This is for my knowledge. Thanks.