La venenosa

Nabokov's Lolita used the affections of a fawning, elderly man (her stepfather) for her own purposes--which never amounted to much more than sex and cash. It only figures that today's Lolita would be dressed to kill, literally. As Drew Barrymore plays her here, she's a sexy homicidal figure with maternal delusions. "Poison Ivy" begins rather endearingly, with high school outcast Sara Gilbert (looking like the modern equivalent of a teen beatnik) befriended by a striking blonde student with lots o' leg and a fake tattoo. This wanton woman-child has no name; Gilbert calls her "Ivy" and Barrymore likes that ("It gives me the opportunity to start over," she says). The tone of the picture shifts however before the midway point, with Ivy infiltrating Gilbert's dysfunctional household and seducing dad Tom Skerritt (doing terrific work). Gilbert's narration--and the surreal jumble which becomes the hectic climax--is rather off-putting, but there's a great deal of worth in Barrymore's solid performance. The film is stylish on a low-budget and is actually steamier than "Nine 1/2 Weeks". Yet, it's really two different pictures struggling within the context of one. A stronger screenplay might've brought the two halves together, although, as the director, Katt Shea Ruben manages to come up with a commendable amount of incidents both amusing and titillating. ** from ****

Poison Ivy simply tells the story of a young girl who definitely gets what she wants and even resorts to murder if needs be. All four of the main characters you can develop some feeling for, and you could even feel sorry for Drew Barrymore's Ivy, although I did feel as if sometimes some characters were simply failing to believe what was pretty obvious to everyone else.

An 18-year-old Barrymore shines in this role, and Cheryl Ladd is also very convincing.

Overall, Poison Ivy is a dark and brooding provocative thriller that literally seduces the viewer in and makes them actually want to see what happens.

By all rights this should have been yet another R-rated sex and violence flick about a piece of immoral jailbait having her wicked way with everyone around her, but the directing and acting are good enough to make it more effective than most, even touching. The atmosphere is almost haunting, and the relationships between the characters (especially the two teenage girl leads) are well developed enough to hold your interest.

Sara Gilbert gives the film a sympathetic center, she's excellent as a bright, likeable high school girl who finds herself in far over her head when she befriends poor little bad girl Drew Barrymore. Her misery and frustration as Barrymore takes over her family, her life, even her dog are moving enough to make the flimsy story work. Barrymore wasn't much of an actress at that age (still isn't, in my opinion), but she's very effective nonetheless. She doesn't need to act, she needs to do what she does, look sexy. Really, really sexy, like it's all she ever thinks about. Cheryl Ladd also does surprisingly well as Gilbert's slowly dying mother.

The movie also has moments of an almost haunting quality. The score is lovely, alternately passionate and strangely moody, and gives the film enough emotional intensity to make me forgive its many flaws. Even Barrymore kissing Gilbert. Eeeew.

Poison Ivy is a good teenage drama movie, starring Sara Gilbert and Drew Barrymore, who both give great performances here. Barrymore plays Ivy a young and wild teen, who lives with her aunt. When she ends up moving in with her friend, Sylvie played by Gilbert, Ivy slowly and seductively works her way into the lives of her 'new' family. The movie has some weird moments, but most of the time it's good and keeps you interested in the plot and the characters.

Although Poison Ivy does not maintain much tension before approaching its last scenes and sacrifices some of its runtime for awkward erotic scenes between Drew Barrymore and Tom Skerrit, this movie is still pleasant to watch. It just has a mysterious atmosphere and makes the viewer feel surrounded by a certain calmness and nostalgia (even when you see the movie for the first time). The soundtrack also helps set this mood. Barrymore's personality at this time is very well reflected in her role as Ivy and the same could probably be said about Sara Gilbert in her role as Sylvie. This makes it feel as if it is two real friends with different personalities interacting, instead of just actors.

The audience is confronted with the question of whether rooting for Ivy to get through with her plans is the right thing to do or not, and in the end, there is no definite answer. Sure, Ivy is highly manipulative and does not seem to really care about Sylvie unless it is for personal gain but she also seems misunderstood, fundamentally lonely and merely looking for a place to belong to.