Katies Blog

This is one of the very few movies I've watched in my lifetime that I felt in my soul. I've read some of the bad reviews for this movie and I'm honestly disappointed. The people that rated this movie with low scores are the one that are incapable of relating to it. There were several times were I had to pause the movie and let the events and dialogue sink in. Maybe it's because I can relate to it very well. Or maybe I just have a very messed up life.. The only part I didn't like was the ending. The manner that the story line ended in was kind of calming. But the short biography at the end of the movie seemed like something out of a Forensic Files episode.. It gave me the chills and ruined some of details that I liked within a couple of the main characters... I also felt like this movie left out a lot of details. Characters simply popped into the movie with barely any background to follow and it was a bit confusing.. Overall, this was a great movie. Listen carefully to the dialogue, some of it is pretty deep..

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.

A story has to have an ending. This film is 99 percent exposition. We get to know the character, Britt Robertson on every level. She is developing herself. She is learning and growing up and then we are left like her mother with nothing. She is not using her credit cards so what happened. The low ratings are justified. A great developing story has to have more than some folksy song to end it. The fault dear Brutus is in the writing. The acting by Robertson is tops. But give the story an ending!

I love well done teen angst movies. Even though I'm 69 I feel 20 inside and can relate to much of what is called teen angst still to this day.

However, this movie is something different all together. Reviewers have said the basic plot, the great acting of Britt, (and I mean great acting) and the confusion of the ending. But to me the ending was what the movie was all about.

I went into this thinking like others it would be a rather light hearted teen angst comedy. And that's what it mostly was. Except it wasn't. First, as others have pointed out, Britt brought a gritty realism to the role that was really refreshing. Superb acting for me.

But more importantly, through the whole movie I felt this edgier, almost spooky context under the surface. For some reason I expected something bad to happen, like when she went to see Sheen, a sex offender, and he locks the door. Or when kissing Slater on his birthday I expected the wife who was in another room to walk in. A strange tension was simmering underneath the movie and it was intriguing me. And when it got near the end and it looked like a fluff ending in the works I still felt the tension. And then the real ending, and all of a sudden it all made sense. Kinda like a dream within a dream.

Absolutely brilliant.

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