Tanner Hall - Storia di un'amicizia

"Tanner Hall" was a film I heard nothing about before seeing it listed on the Gen Arts website. After seeing it listed on their website, I decided to research and see who was in it and the basic premise. After reading the plot, seeing who was in the film, and then hearing it was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, it peaked my interest enough to want to see it. I decided to attend the east coast premiere of "Tanner Hall" at the Gen Art Film Festival in NYC on Monday April 12, 2010 and this is my thoughts on the film.

The basic plot of "Tanner Hall" focuses on four girls at a private boarding school in New England. Two of these girls have been friends since childhood and the other two are just friends from the school. Together they share their feelings and emotions in a coming of age tale that you will soon forget as soon as you leave the theater...

I really wish I didn't have to be so harsh on this film especially since I saw it at a festival with most of the cast sitting around me but truth be told I really did not like this film at all. In a world where coming of age films are a dime a dozen, a writer or director need to make a film that really stands out from the others. That's where "Tanner Hall's" problem begins as there is nothing even remotely new or interesting about this film. When watching independent coming of age story you are expecting something deeper and more powerful. We do not get that at all. What the audience gets is such a lackluster story with a lot of one-dimensional characters and lack of emotion.

I think the main problem lies on the writing, which is just awful. The characters in this film are all stereotypical and one dimensional. You have the horny teacher, the cheating husband, the slutty school girl, the depressed school girl, the love confused school girl, and of course the sexually confused school girl. None of these characters are written with much depth. I feel bad saying it since it was written and directed by two friends Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana Von Furstenberg who seemed extremely passionate about the film. To me everything from the story to the stereotypical characters to the lack of character development is what really hurt this film. I felt maybe if these two passionate ladies didn't write the film but direct it or maybe vice versa it would have been a lot better.

The other issue I had was some of the actors...I don't know who's idea it was to put Chris Kattan in this film but man was he awful. This guy can barely pull off a comedy routine and this is coming from someone who somewhat enjoyed "Corky Romano" (yes I know it's a bad film...but I laughed for some reason) and they put him in a movie like this as the subtle comic relief. It just doesn't work. Also, why is Amy Sedaris in this film? What a useless role for her? She is such a gifted funny woman and in this film I just can't wait for her scene to end. Maybe it's just that the comedy aspect the directors/writers were trying to convey didn't fit the tone of the film.

As for the rest the primary cast, they all did "alright" in their roles based on what the script had to offer. Brie Larson plays basically the same role she plays on "The United States of Tara" but as I said its all the script asked of her. Rooney Mara does alright as well although I think she has more potential than this movie let on. She was really good in "Youth in Revolt," which was a good coming of age story. Georgia King should just be deemed the queen of boarding school films because if you look at her resume, she has done so many. I don't really think she did much in her role nor did I find much effort was needed to play the character. Amy Ferguson did an OK job as the sexual confused girl. And lastly, Tom Everett Scott also known as "that guy" does not offer anything at all to the film. His character is not only dull and poorly written but probably the least developed out of all the characters.

Bottom Line: "Tanner Hall" felt uninspired, long, boring and most importantly it did nothing to capture the audiences attention. I know I am just one person and it's only my opinion but being a film lover I have to say I seen better and by better I mean a lot better. I usually enjoy coming of age films and can name several good ones including "Thirteen," "Lost & Delirious," and "Emperor's Club" just to name a few. This genre especially ones that focus on boarding schools are not normally the subject to much appeal, not even in the independent film world. I hate to say it but there really isn't anything that made this film even remotely memorable. I do however feel both Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana Von Furstenberg are very passionate people and I really wish them much success in the future. I hope "Tanner Hall" is just the speed bump in their careers because it's just a coming of age snooze fest from start to finish.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Tanner Hall" is a 3 out of 10.

TANNER HALL is like a very interesting puzzle delivered to the audience in pieces so disconnected that we never get a final reward form the completion of the puzzle. Written and directed by newcomers Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana von Furstenberg it has a script that seems to want to be embellished or at least reinsert what seems to be like fragments of a longer film that still dwell on the cutting room floor. But for what it is, it is an entertaining stage for the presence of some very fine actors about whom, despite the shred of information about each, we learn to care.

Tanner Hall is an all girls (with the exception of the Head Mistress's son Peter as played by Ryan Schira) somewhere in New England: the stately buildings are crumbling just like the lives of the girls who study there. Fernanda (Rooney Mara sans piercings and tattoos!) relates the story by remembering a time in her childhood when her friend Victoria (Georgia King) committed an act of meanness - allowing an old lady's pet parrot to escape. Hold that thought.

At the school Fernanda, Kate (Brie Larson) and Lucasta (Amy Ferguson0 are best friends and when Victoria is dropped off to yet another new boarding school by her abusive mother she joins the clack. From this point the entries into love, alienation, mischief, decisions about sexuality, and adultery color the fragments of the film. Gio (Tom Everett Scott) is married and expecting a baby but falls for Fernanda and the two have a challenging relationship. Lucasta must face her conflict as to her needs and rebuffs physical advances form delivery boy Hank (Shawn Pyfrom), and Kate flirts with teacher Mr. Middleton (Chris Kattan) married to the sex obsessed and frustrated Mrs. Middleton (Amy Sedaris). Victoria is left yearning for the world of relationships to make sense but not finding the path. There is the beginning of a storyline as the girls escape confinement with Victoria's theft of a key, but that eventually goes nowhere except fizzle.

The themes of the film have been used before - and will be used again: girls becoming women is a never ending source of story material. The aspect that makes this little film shine is the presence of the fine acting of Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Brie Larson, and Amy Ferguson. They are a pleasure to watch perform. Grady Harp, March 12

Oh, that cold old new movie THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. All excited about it, people flock to see. What for? What's so great about it? It's dark and stark and Rooney Mara had to cut off her hair for the part. An ugly, unattractive part. So, it brought her success. But it's a crappy movie. Well, to each their own, if it lights up your life, I'll try to be happy for you.

But I prefer my birds to be bright and chirpy and flying about fluttering like cute little angels. Which is not exactly the character Rooney portrays, but you get my drift. I mean, just look at lovely, lovely Rooney in the opening sequence as she gets driven to school by her mother, chewing a piece of gum, much to Mom's chagrin. She looks like a cuter version of Elisha Dushku. She has a cheekbone structure to die for. Has got to be one of the prettiest actresses on film. Hell, people, if I looked like that, and they offered me like gazillion bucks to appear in a hit movie, I'd think about what I'd miss every time I passed a mirror. And, on top of that, the even better part that would have come her way anyway, so scrooo your dragon tattoo offer...! That scene with Rooney with the guy and the car amidst the autumn leaves, makes me think of an ad campaign with the slogan 'it doesn't get any better than this.' This is a small movie, with a bad girl that really isn't well-defined, as the Georgia King portrayal turns out to be ultimately toothless. The more well-defined bad girl, the naughty one, the Brie Larson portrayal, as Kate, is more the one that does something awful. She gets banished from the script, unsatisfactorily so. Roller-skating in place, an untimely dismissal...

There are some laughable performances. Amy Sidaris and her weakling hubby should have been recast. What were they thinking, those two were a wrecking crew. Georgia King was a storm-in-a-teacup kind of adversary. She should have upped her game play at least tenfold. Brie Larson was excellent. Anybody who could come to class (barely-)dressed up for the plum female part of A Midsummer Night's Dream looking like that, wow! But apart from her obvious beauty, she was also entirely convincing.

Plot has its weak points, but for a dedicated girl-watcher, lots to cheer about. Loads more fun than TGWTDT.

The decaying, crumbling castle was an excellent choice of location. Does it really exist? No such place found on Google.

I forgot the actress's name, but the woman who played the mean mom, at the time of watching, I thought she'd have made a perfect Alexis Carrington had they done a DYNASTY remake.

Tanner Hall is one of those all-girl boarding schools set in the old, countryside serenity of New England. It's probably prestigious (since rich girls go there too), and literally gated. Locked on the inside and out – which seems not only inappropriate but not feasible either since somehow pizza delivery boys can get in. "Tanner Hall" is a teenage girl movie, and of course, our four main girls find no end of trouble in their small school.

A main indicator for how good (or how poor) a movie is, is how well they can reach their target audience. Despite competent casting directors, set directors, and cinematographers, "Tanner Hall" is just way too slow to really engage their youthful audience. We are slowly introduced to Fernanda (Rooney Mara), Victoria (Georgia King), Kate (Brie Larson) and Lucasta (Amy Ferguson). And then with poorly thought out drama (and no comedy) we venture forth as they struggle with coming of age.

Victoria is a trouble-maker, but one misplaced early scene ruined any chance for a strong moment of empathy for her character. Kate is a sexually adventurous trouble-maker and the one with the best chance for intrigue and suspense but she was only the third main character. Fernanda is supposed to be a good girl but then she falls into temptation with an older man. Lucasta, the fourth-billed, was struggling to figure out what kind of girl she was, wanting to understand what she was attracted to and what was attractive about her. Clearly, this is the most sympathetic character and the one that every girl could relate to in one way or another. But instead, the writers and directors made us spend most of our time with Fernanda whose extracurricular activities were not only immoral but illegal too and completely unrelatable to the normal school-age girl.

The grown-up, slowly maturing, adult version of me couldn't connect with any of the girls and found it awfully hard to sit through. The teenage girl version of me would have been able to connect to one of the girls, but it wouldn't really be worth my time.

Don't bother seeking out "Tanner Hall". Just because Rooney Mara is now famous, and an Oscar nominee, doesn't mean we need to start releasing her earlier, forgettable work.

Rooney Mara was about 23, Brie Larson was just 18, here they play high school girls, "coming of age", as they attend a New England boarding school. The movie contains the usual friction among students, friction between students and parents, students and school administrators, and even a student romance with an adult.

Overall I found it to be moderately interesting but quickly forgettable. Nothing really novel here but interesting to see several actresses early in their careers.

I found it on Amazon streaming movies.