Katies Blog

I just watched this film and it surprised me. From the blurb about this film I expected it to be trite and just a piece of fluff that would entertain for an evening. How wrong I was or how wrong the summary was. This film was so much more than mindless entertainment and kept expanding every step of the way. The mixture of flashbacks and her imagined life were so touching against the backdrop of her struggle with her current life. This is a sleeper that I would recommend to anyone. The acting was superb and the character of Kate was adorable. The production qualities were very top notch. And the writing wove a very complicated story into a tapestry of challenges for the young Kate that had me identifying with her over and over. There were small moments where I wondered why a scene was there or if the story was driven forward by that scene but they were so fleeting that I gave this film a 9-star rating. When this film ended I was both disturbed and moved. That moment in our life when things start come into focus but only if we are ready to see them. If I had made this film I would be super proud of the result.

I had no idea what to expect when I sat down to view "Ask Me Anything".

It occurred to me that this would probably turn out to be a fluffy, sensitive chick-flick and that I might walk out after a little while. My male ego often feels unable follow the psychological estrogen trail for too long... At the movies, anyway.

I mention this for all the male readers because I was truly blown away by this little movie.

It deserves to have little or none of its content revealed. I will mention the package: nicely written, surprisingly engaging, considering how modest and devoid of ambition some of the dialogs can deceivingly appear at the start. The picture is deeply candid and offers genuinely potent insights into cinematic gender language. It is fresh! It took me by surprise and wrapped me around its little finger in no time. Walking out? Out of the question!

The style of the picture is discreet - it allows some very subtle performances to come across.

Britt Robertson, the lead, deserves accolades. She is a superb actress - deeply vulnerable. What's more, she has a unique quality for an actress: she makes her protagonist fascinating long before we've even begun to get acquainted with her crisis.

The film left me speechless. In a good way.

I went into this film knowing nothing and i was pleasantly surprised. I have not seen this film mentioned anywhere and I'm quite shocked as it is a great teen drama.

This film explores human behaviour and morals but does so in a way i did not find preachy which allowed me to think about characters' behaviour and assess for myself what I believed to be right and wrong. This film is not for everyone and the ending, which i will not spoil, may leave a bitter taste in some peoples' mouths but in my opinion it tied the film off in a way that matches the tone of the rest of the film.

There are strong performances throughout, especially for Britt Robertson (Katie), and all the characters came across as mostly believable. Cinematography is also fairly strong yet isn't extravagant enough to distract from the unfolding story.

My only issues are the editing can be somewhat distracting or disjointing in parts but that may be a personal grievance, I also felt the run time could have been 15 minutes or so shorter as some scenes felt irrelevant and mundane although that may be the intention and the ending could leave some people disappointed.

Overall it is a solid coming of age tale with strong characters and acting with only a few issues to be found.

7.9/10

JH

I like Britt Robertson for all the right reasons. She is beautiful, and extremely talented. This movie, however entertaining, is really a showcase of Britt's talents. She truly 'lives' this role.

I realized her unique acting talent years ago in "Dan in Real Life", where she plays the middle daughter of Dan. I knew she was going on to bigger roles, and a successful Hollywood career if she wanted it.

In this movie aimed at the adolescent audience, she plays a confused teenager writing a blog revealing her daily activities and secrets, advised to do so by her high school guidance counselor in lieu of moving onto her first year in collage.

The main issue that Robertson has had to deal with in tinsel town is the fact that she is typecast as a teenager roll after roll, even though she is getting close to 28 years old at this writing. In the 2015 feature film Tomorrowland with costar George Clooney, she plays a high school student as well.

If you like Britt Robertson, or if you aren't aware of her yet, and you want to see someone "nail an acting role", I strongly advise this movie. However, if you are a prude, or someone that has hangups about a young woman walking around her house in panties and a t-shirt, please pass on this movie, and go see a shrink.

Strange films make for strange reviews.

Robertson is actually in her mid-20s but in this adaptation she plays younger (ie, a teenager, clues are in the script if you listen) and that becomes a cheat of sorts.

The script based on book about how adolescent girls get "confused" by the digital age we live in, has a lot of plot arcs about cheating, so cheating is clearly a theme here, or at least a sub-theme.

The direction follows the vibe of Easy A, or Ferris Bueller, where the young person appears (initially) to be the smartest person in the film (possibly on the planet?) and the constant voice-over only adds to that impression.

I did not read the book. Those reviewers that did say that the lessons and morals from the book do not translate well onto the big screen.

I will concede the point to them.

Robertson, aside from playing younger, is also DDG (drop dead gorgeous) and seems to have gone to the Emma Roberts School of Acting. While she is not a physical match for Roberts, she mugs and struts and double-takes and pouts in the exact same rhythm, so the effect is (see the heading for the review) odd.

The other casting choices are also odd. Big names (Martin Sheen, Justin Long) drop by to play forgettable parts. Very odd.

The technicals are outstanding.