Thirteen

This movie is very real. It's depressing too, because the situations the characters face are so familiar. The cast is fantastic. True talent is shown by the way the characters' complex personalities are so easily understood. The mother's situation is one that so many mothers can relate to. She glances away for just a moment - a moment that slips right past her when she wasn't paying full attention. Almost overnight it's as if her daughter has become a completely different person. It is an eye-opener for all parents of young teenage girls. My overall mood/feeling after watching it reminded me of how I felt after I watched The Basketball Diaries. Super-real.....no sugar-coated fluff in this film. I thought it was excellent - both informative & well-written.

Tracy is a normal thirteen-year-old girl, dressed in bright pastels, bedroom full of soft toys and with giggly thoughts of boys. Starting school in the new term she finds everyone in awe of Evie Zamora and her friends – all of who have suddenly turned into sexy young ladies over the summer. With her goofy kid look, Evie blanks Tracy until she impresses her by stealing a purse to go shopping. As Evie gets in with Tracy's mum Mel, she also takes Evie into her own world of rebellion involving stealing, drink, disobedience, drugs and sex. Mel struggles to hold on to the small parts of her daughter that she still recognises.

At many points in our lives we all change and perhaps the first time it happens is the hardest to deal with. The stage where everyone seems to go from just being kids to suddenly being a peer group is a major one and this film, for all its extremes, does justice to the difficulties (for everyone) of the period in a story that is well written, cleverly directed and really well acted by the whole cast. The plot builds well on minor changes to Tracy and makes it totally clear where the pressure is coming from and how it affects her; in this regard the script is spot on and is totally convincing. When it goes to extremes it does show signs of stretching and almost breaking but it never does – while it is extreme it is still convincing and only two or three moments seem like they are going too far. Certainly I can't imagine many parents will be able to watch it without worrying about how they and theirs will handle the change when it comes.

While the writing is great, there does come a point where it needs to end and, while unconvincing, the film does at least draw to an end on an ambiguous ending and only the final shot of a 'isn't life hard' scream from Tracy struck a duff note and was too clumsy. As co-writer, Reed shows a real awareness of the world around her and she deserves the praise she got for that role but also her performance as Evie is praise worthy, but perhaps not to the extent that Wood's is. Wood takes us from a child to womanhood and never hits a duff note in her portrayal of a girl just trying to fit in.

She is excellent and her dynamic with Hunter is a perfect fit and also convincing; in my mind she is better than Reed because Wood had a more complex character to develop – Wood had to change her character, Reed played a character who was already there. Hunter deals with some minor clutter in her character but generally she is as good as her teenage cos-stars. Minor support roles for people like Sisto, Unger and Clarke all add to the film but really the film belongs to the lead trio. Director Hardwicke directs with style and with an eye for the clever shot – at times using fast camera motions while in one key scene just letting the camera frame the front room like it was a stage. She also uses a clever touch in tainting the film stock a washed out colour when Tracy's bubble finally bursts – we immediately go from bright colours to washed out blue and, even with the conclusion we only return to dark browns and not the highs of the main story.

Overall this is a very good film that is hard to watch if you have pre-teen kids. It has extremes in there and it won't apply to every teenager out there but to just call it unrealistic is to ignore the reality of peer pressure and the sexualisation of youth generally. The script is convincing, frightening and moving and is greatly helped by three great performances from Reed, Wood and Hunter.

One of the most common criticisms of "Thirteen" is that it is 'unrealistic'. However, "Thirteen" never claims to portray all thirteen year olds, hell, it doesn't even claim to portray a significant number of them. This film is about the select few who choose to take a certain path in life. They have no true parental figures, their lives are in shambles, and they are making a quick and painful transition into supposed adulthood. Notice the other people in the school scenes, they're normal, they're just studying, hanging out with their friends, and going through the motions of school life. Those aren't the people that are being portrayed here.

Nikki Reed, an immense young talent, plays Evie Zamora, the hottest and arguably most popular girl in school. Evan Rachel Wood plays Tracy, a girl who still keeps her stuffed animals and Barbie dolls on her bed, and whose parents have divorced recently and whose mother works as a hairdresser out of her home to support the family. Tracy goes to junior high completely oblivious of any of the social pressure that's present, and begins to idolize Evie, obviously a terrible role model. In an outstanding early scene, Tracy follows Evie into a shopping mall and is initially appalled at the idea of shoplifting, but in a desperate attempt to fit in with the 'cool' crowd, she steals a purse from a woman who sat next to her, and finds Evie again, at which point she is accepted. Sooner rather than later, Tracy is drawn into a terrible depression which she deals with by using drugs, cutting herself, and being sexually promiscuous. She does all this completely uncertain of whether she wants to, and mostly because she's following Evie's lead. To say that no 13 year olds have experiences similar to this is pure ignorance, and if you're a parent who thinks this is unrealistic- think again, and think hard. In today's world, narcotics are available as easily as candy bars, and pop stars are more like porn stars, putting pressure on today's teens to become promiscuous sooner in life.

Wood is a terrific, terrific actress who has made some questionable career choices before and since this, but I hope to see her continue to star in films like "The Upside of Anger" and "Down in the Valley". However, in this particular film, even her tremendously powerful performance pales in comparison with Holly Hunter's Oscar-nominated supporting role as Tracy's mother, and by Nikki Reed, who, in her first ever acting role, is nothing short of stunning. This role is very, very racy for any 15 year old to take on, and Reed, who also co-wrote this film's terrific script with Catherine Hardwicke, takes it on with maturity I've never seen before from an actress of her age. First time director Catherine Hardwicke does a great job here, her work is inventive and adds real grit to this tale.

The bottom line is, "Thirteen" is a great, realistic, disturbing urban drama that you should watch with an open mind and with knowledge that it is based in fact. This is a challenging and brave film, and everyone involved has gained immediate respect from me. One of the best of 2003.

8/10

I really liked the movie. It explains the whole way a teens life can take a one-eighty in a split second. It shows what us teens have to go through in life, school, friendships, relationships. It gives people a feel for our lives as teens and how some of us deal with drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. The movie really explains to people what can happen in one persons life let alone a whole group of them. It spoke to me and a few of my friends that watched it. It is a powerful movie that I will recommend for many others to watch. It deeply made me think about my friends at school and if they are going through the same situation or worse. Is there a way I can help them? The movie is excellent and I believe every teen and young adult as well as adults should watch the movie and see what their kids may/may not be going through in life.

Thirteen is a 2003 drama that stars Holly Hunter and follows her coping as a mother to maintain the new and disrespectful personality of her daughter after entering into the wrong friend zone, filled with sex, petty crime and drugs. Thirteen sounded like a enjoyable watch at the time and when i finally watched my DVD, I was slowly more and more hooked to the reality on the screen, although, me being a teenager, knows that the style in this movie as CRINGY AS HELL, this film is so true and has happened before and is still happening all over the world, kids have a dream to be someone they don't even know themselves so they can be accepted in life only to be let down more then they already were, I have actually seen it before and experienced it a couple of times myself, the acting, dialogue and pace is so well done and actors like Holly Hunter, Jeremy Sisto and Nikki Reed totally steal the sha. It's just so painful and shocking to think that a sweet girl like the main girl in the film can actually change that much into a disrespectful, punk, foul mouth attituded teenager. Thirteen is a very educational film for parents who think they're children are acting like they never did before. 10/10!

Ps. I'm back!!