Don't Talk to Irene

I was expecting dumb dialogue and older teens acting more like middle schoolers. The plot was a bit stale and used before: Youth convinces sit 'n watch tele retirees that they can be 'ornery 'n feisty and be a cheerleading team. Yeah, sure, except it was well acted with a bit raw anatomical dialogue and similar perversions(?). There is some of the usual H.S. teen based film scenarios such as bullying, and of course teachers/administrators portrayed as losers. Most part intelligent no-holds-barred dialogue amongst a disparate range of characters and their flaws.

So often these days you find movies where the trailer was better than the movie itself. This movie is simple and honest. A good story well told and well acted. I love indie movies for this reason. It entertains without pretense and delights with small surprises. If this movie does not surprise you I would be amazed. Loved it.

... and begs the question, why DO we sentence people to community service? I understand the intention - to get someone out of themselves by serving the community, but don't the poor, the sick, and the elderly deserve better than people who are being forced to care? But I digress. And why I even brought this up will become clearer - maybe - further on in the review.

This is one of those 'little indie'movies that make the film festival rounds, and usually gets lost in the shadow of Hollywood blockbusters..but this one's worth a watch. Irene, played by Michelle McLeod, is an overweight teen who talks to/with a poster of Geena Davis.. Davis gives her motivational direction..and considering she's not even in the movie, Davis gets some great lines. Irene is forbidden internet access, cell phones and TV by a mother who thinks sheltering her will spare her the bullying of the real world. Mom (Anastasia Phillips) was a popular high school cheerleader, whose teen pregnancy re-wrote her future..she vacillates between smothering her daughter and being brutally honest about how 'fat girls' are perceived in today's culture.

Irene is determined to become a cheerleader too, which makes her a laughing stock at school and the butt of a cruel practical joke that lands her, and two of the instigators, on suspension and assigned to work at the retirement home next door to the school. The characters in the home are no-nonsense real..no sweet little old grandmas here--and the performances of the three seniors closest to Irene (Bruce Gray, Joan Gregson and Deborah Grover) are honest and quirky. Scott Thompsn plays the home's director who will ignore most things just to keep his job, Andy Reid plays the non-comformist of questionable gender, and Aviva Mongillo is the epitome of the stereotypical 'mean girl'. All turn in laudable performances.

Irene listens to Davis's advice to 'never give up', and actually starts believing it..we don't know whether to feel sorry or hopeful for her, but she uses her enthusiasm for cheerleading (and some stolen vodka) to start her own cheer team--among the seniors, and a lot of people are affected by her new found tenacity. The ending may have been a little more sugar coated than was necessary, but I liked the film because it was filled with imperfect atypical characters, each allowed their own small story, who find their way into Irene's world.

Newbie McLeod is quite good, fighting tears as her face genuinely registers pain in one moving scene. She may not have the polish of Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird, but this teen story is just as entertaining as that film, and maybe more original in style and execution. The film provides genuine laughs and pulls at your hear

A movie about a fat girl having a dream becoming a cheerleader, that's not immediately the thing I had in mind while thinking about a good movie. Not really the thing I would go for normally. But if I have to be honest I was pleasantly surprised by Don't Talk To Irene. It's a movie with a lot of funny moments, aspecially the talk. Irene, played by Michelle McLeod, is fat and not goodlooking, she talks to a poster of Geena Davis as her motivational speaker. What follows is a girl that doesn't get and doesn't mind being bullied, she just wants to achieve her dream, and she will do whatever it takes. It's a nice story about people that are a bit outcasted, but that don't really mind, and do whatever they like to do. There are enough funny moments to make it a good comedy. Much better than I expected it to be.

I was really REALLY pleasantly surprised with this movie, so much so that I saw it a few times over a weekend.

"Don't Talk To Irene" is about Irene, a chubby teenage outcast stuck in a sleepy, dumpy North American town. Due to her over-protective neurotic mother, Irene has no computer, TV, or Cell-phone which makes her "the biggest loser in her town's entire teenaged history." With no friends or family to talk to, constantly ridiculed by the student body and bullied by the popular kids, Irene lives in a fantasy world where she gets daily advice from Actress Geena Davis and dreams of becoming a cheerleader.

When her bullies' latest prank lands all of them into community service at a retirement home, Irene decides to form her own unusual cheer-squad, made up of bored seniors and various other town eccentrics, in order to win a National Talent Constent to prove her school and her dismissive mom that she is a cheerleader material...

Firstly, the acting AND the casting were phenomenal! From the mean popular girl to the transgender outcast to the widower ex-boxer to the over-protective mom, all the characters had their own stories to tell. Seriously, all the characters were so unique and quirky that it was great fun watching them clash, bicker, bond AND Dance with each other.

Even though, the movie has a sharp, witty and whimsical tone (thanks to its Award winning script), it also explores a lot of profound themes such as depression, bullying, loneliness, and Prejuidice. ALL the characters were somehow broken or hurting badly, which made them so much easier to relate to. And, it was all the more powerful to see their pain ease up a little as they all get involved in Irene's crazy scheme to be on National Television. It was also quite touching to see Irene bond people for the first time in her life and grow as an individual.

I went in feeling very sorry for the lonely Irene but when the movie ended, I was like, she is so lucky to have that many amazing people in her life. I wish I could I attend to their weekly Vodka and 90s Music Dance Parties!

80s & 90s soundtrack was spot-on and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the film's message of individuality and always following your dreams no matter how many people try to discourage you. life is not a popularity contest; it's about following your passions while connecting with other people and having fun.

If you like feel-good Indie movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Billy Elliott, Napoleon Dynamite; give this one a try!