Picture Day

Now here's an insightful little teen film that gets the angst of coming- of-age without having to resort to the same old clichés. "Picture Day" from promising first-time filmmaker Kate Melville is a sensitive portrayal concerning a couple of teens going about the daily grind.

The reckless, wannabe rebel Claire (Tatiana Maslany), forced to attend an extra year of high school, befriends the socially awkward Henry; a boy she used to babysit years earlier. Claire is unaware of their history at first, but Henry isn't, and in fact has never abandoned his long standing, secretly obsessive crush.

"Picture Day" is well written and unpredictable, but it is the terrific work of Maslany (a revelation on TV's "Orphan Black") that makes the film succeed. She's a quirky, natural performer and at 28 somehow plays a high schooler with utter conviction. Her character is flawed, brash, but realistically drawn and we root and sympathize with her. Melville rests a lot on Maslany's performance to great results.

The plot goes some places that don't really work, and some scenes are in need of a good trimming, but this is never the less a rarity in the teen genre; one that favors character development, leisurely pacing, and no easy answers.

This is smart, good-natured indie fare with a terrific performance at it's center. It's imperfect sure, but memorable and well worth seeking out.

I was going to skip this movie because it sounded like yet another in a long stream of lame teen movies, but then I saw that Tatiana Maslany was the lead. Based on her stunning performances in Orphan Black, I decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did.

Both Maslany and Spencer Van Wyck play roles much younger than their actual ages, but they are both completely believable. Their performances raise this otherwise common story into something much better.

Tatiana wants to hang out with a much older musician, no wait, she is suddenly interested in the younger guy she used to babysit, making him her pet project. What's interesting is seeing her character's layers and defences peel away, little by little. No question we're watching a Canadian film here. And yes, that's a good thing.

"Picture Day" stars Tatiana Maslany as Claire, a girl who's described as being caught in between adolescence and adulthood. But that's only accurate if adulthood is actually an immature state of being where teenagers are snarky and rude because they think they're cool and smarter than everybody else. She's smack dab in the middle of adolescence no matter how mature she might think she is.

During Claire's last year of high school – again, she meets two guys. Jim is legally an adult, thereby making him older and wiser. He also represents the sex, drugs and rock & roll stage of "adulthood". Henry is younger than Claire, but also mature, studious and observant. He's also more sheltered and needs someone to show him the harsh realities of coming of age.

The coming of age parallels within in this film are apparent and abundant. Claire's stuck between adolescence and adulthood and is repeating her last year of high school – as if she's unable to know when she needs to grow up. She's also torn between two guys, representing the high school and adult worlds she's torn between. And then within the guys themselves, the older one is more immature and less adapted to the adult-world and has no need for Claire himself. While the younger one can provide Claire with the stability she needs and has the maturity to approach adolescence like an adult.

The problem is all those parallels are represented within the premise, once you actually start watching the movie, there's nothing left to discover. "Think these ideas are smart? Good, because that's all we've got."

Worse is that the characters themselves don't provide any reasons to keep watching. Claire is rude, insolent and immature, and doesn't deserve our sympathy or even our attention. Jim is a walking, talking stereotype that is even more annoying than that sounds. Henry is a decent character, and since that should solve her boy-related dilemma, the only dilemma that's left is why we're still watching.

Tatiana Maslany of 'Orphan Black' stars as Claire Paxton, a rebellious teen forced to repeat her senior year of high school. She is look down upon as a school outsider with a questionable reputation. She becomes a friend, mentor, and an object of desire to Henry who is also a quiet outsider she used to babysit as a child. On the other hand, she is sexually involved with Jim, the 30-something front man for the funk band, the ElastoCitizens.

This is a coming of age story not just for Henry but also for Claire. They're both amazing in this great little indie movie, but Tatiana is the one that breaks out as a true movie star. She is both magnetic and vulnerable in this role.