All Over Me

by far one of the best coming of age films i've seen in a long time. deals with the trial and tribulations of teenager claude and her best friend ellen and follows their daily lives in hell's kitchen. claude clearly holds a torch for ellen who has an attraction to a local street thug named mark. claude eventually meets up with a local musician and cutie named lucy played leisha hailey of the l word fame. i liked how the relationship was developed and portrayed between between lucy and claude. the awkwardness and pangs of first love. the soundtrack to the film also kicked some serious ass as it used a lot of indie artists and girl bands from the nineties. definitely a keeper.

New York -1990s. Claude is a teenager of our time, daughter of a divorced mother who let her face the challenges of teenage alone. Not quite alone though, since her best friend Hellen is never very far. As different in temperament as they are in appearance, sturdy, self-effacing Claude and fragile, volatile Ellen have long been at the center of each other's universe. In fact, Claude loves Hellen but does not know quite yet how to express her homosexuality. Anyway, Hellen is not gay. But with school almost over and summer in the air, Claude and Ellen have begun to discover more of the world outside Claude's room. Claude has met people like Jesse, Luke and Lucy, who seem to understand her much better than Ellen does. Meanwhile, Ellen has a new boyfriend, a macho neighborhood guy who shows signs of being violent. So much so that he participates in the murder of Luke. Over the course of a few days, events lead Claude to question, for the first time ever, her friendship with Ellen. Will she have to let go of the person she loves most in order to be happy and true to herself? Tough times, where urban teenagers become adults if they are lucky, or else end up in drugs, in prison, or dead… The type of movie we would like to believe is a horror fiction, rather than a picture of our nice so-called 'civilized' society.

I just watched this film on IFC and was really impressed with how well done it was, the acting is really fantastic as well. This one was a sweet story and had real depth of the people we watched in the film. Bravo all around!

This movie would have been so much better if it had a plot. I can understand what the writer was doing, but I don't think he did it to well. If I had to explain this movie to someone I think I would have to say it's about characters growth. A teenaged girl in love with her best friend, forced by separation to find someone with the same feelings. But what I never got with this movie is, why was Ellen so stupid? She stayed with her murderer of a boyfriend even after he almost over-dosed her. And she made out with Claude. what was that about? I don't understand a lot of things about this movie, and I don't think anyone could really explain some of what they saw.

Dreaming of becoming a rock star and hanging out, Claude (Alison Folland) is just like any other fifteen year-old girl. Almost. As the school year nears an end, she finds her relationship with Ellen (Tara Subkoff) strained. And a new friend, Luke, enters her life.

Ellen is suddenly caught up in her new boyfriend, (Cole Hauser). However, Claude doesn't feel the same way about guys. Claude is attracted to girls. To be specific, she's fallen in love with Ellen. And all that happens is Ellen gets closer and closer to Mark.

When Ellen begins a downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, and late-night partying, Claude has to make a decision. Will she be there for Ellen when she needs her most? Or will she stop letting Ellen use her? To complicate things more, a new love interest enters Claude's life and another friend makes an exit.

Claude is forced to weigh the importance of her relationship with Ellen against her conscience. In the end she has to do the right thing and deal with her best friend hating her. In a matter of days, Claude loses two friends, gains one, and also gains a love. And in the end there is no looking back.

This film is the ideal indie movie. Subkoff and Folland shine along with the rest of the excellent cast. Superb writing and cinematography combined with a hip urban soundtrack make this a must see.