How to Build a Girl

Having a 27 year old American play a Northern English teens is a complete miscast. Distracted me the entire movie.

Another film creeping onto a streaming service in the UK, having had it's potential Cinematic release blighted by Covid closures was "How to Build a Girl", a loose (sometime very loose) adaptation of the first part of Journalist and Author Caitlin Moran's autobiography.

Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) is a precocious but unpopular girl living in Wolverhampton in the early 90's. Through little more than ability and force of will, she earns herself a job at a London based music magazine, writing reviews. Her career really takes off when she takes on a cruel persona and begins writing scathing and bitter appraisals of the bands of the time. But her success comes at the expense of her relationships with her friends, family and with singer/songwriter John Kite (Alfie Allen).

Not quite nailing the accent, but doing better than most would, Beanie Feldstein does a good job anchoring a film that has flights of extreme fantasy mixed in with its dramatic moments. The film does have its amusing moments, and there's particular joy to be found with the cameos from various people appearing on her "God wall". Alexei Sayle playing Karl Marx is a nice nod for those who know anything about his career.

My trouble was that I don't think there was quite enough story to justify the creation of the film. Admittedly, becoming a respected music critic at 16 whilst living in Wolverhampton is laudable and unusual, but the plot doesn't really have enough to it to make you feel anything other than mildly charmed. Her arrogance, created by so much success so quickly, doesn't really cost her much to overcome, as her family are always reasonably supportive.

As I say, amiable and amusing, but lacking in story beats to make it worthwhile.

Caitlin Moran's novel (who also wrote the screenplay) 'How To Build a Girl' tells the story of teenager Johanna Morrigan's (Beanie Feldstein - Booksmart) journey as she reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde. Yesterday, a teenager in search of her own identity; today, a sex-positive wild child with an infamous look, and trash talking the finest artists of her era for her new job as a critic in London, to help out her financially struggling family in Wolverhampton.

Feldstein plays a somewhat similar, but this time British, character as she did in last year's Booksmart. A tad bit more insecure, but still driven and charismatic. It does distract a little when she channels Melanie C in 'Spiceworld' with her British accent. Not necessarily a bad thing, since this is mostly the case in the first half of the film, before Johanna turns into a completely different version of herself. Heavily influenced by the collection of talking portraits of important historic figures on her bedroom wall, and by connecting with her brother Krissi (Laurie Kynaston - The Trouble With Maggie Cole), she goes on to forming a young woman's personality who can stand on her own for a big future to come.

The chemistry between the members of the Morrigan-family feels genuine. Especially Paddy Considine (HBO's 'The Outsider') as Johanna's father and wannabe rock'n'roll-fanatic, has some heartwarming moments with his on screen daughter and is a lot of fun to watch. When it comes to a true scene stealing performance, we have to wait until about halfway into the film, when Johanna gets to interview rocker John Kite. Played by Alfie Allen (HBO's 'Game of Thrones'), he has one big scene in a hotel room with Feldstein, which isn't just emotionally raw, but showcases once again how good he is at playing a vulnerable, troubled man.

Coky Giedroyc has directed plenty of episodes for television (most recently 'Harlots'), but never seems to want to upstage that with something that's made for the big screen. Everything feels a bit too BBC, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it does limit the wide range of people that could show interest in watching this. Nothing makes 'How To Build a Girl' stand out. It feels like it borrows a lot from other coming-of-age films, and while there is a lot of clever stuff to be found, it doesn't particularly digs itself into your brain to be memorable. The script itself is riddled with clever nods to iconic literary figures (such as Little Women's Jo March), and you'll never listen to Annie's "Tomorrow" the same way ever again.

'How To Build a Girl' was made to connect with plenty of teenagers out there, who might be struggling with finding their own identity. As far as originality goes, it doesn't really discover any new ground, which for a film like this might be enough to entertain those who are looking for just a straightforward charming story.

This film tells a bittersweet coming of age story. I am so glad she finds herself! The protagonist is really engaging, and you just can't help but be drawn to her story. I really liked it.

It's 90's England. Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) is a 16 year old outcast at school. She talks to her imaginary famous mentors. Her poor family lives in Wolverhampton. Her father Pat (Paddy Considine) still dreams of being a 70's rock star. Her mother is worn out after having twins. She gets a magazine job and journeys to find herself as music reporter Dolly Wilde.

Of course, this reminds me of Almost Famous. There is a lot in common. This has some of the same autobiographic touches with a coming-of-age story within the music journalism industry. There is one thing that I can't get over. Beanie is trying to be British and it's freaking weird. It sets this off on a note which it does recover eventually. I can't see how there isn't a British teenage girl itching to play this part. Johanna does go full evil before learning her lesson. This is good although I kept thinking that this could have been a breakout performance for an unknown British teen.