Sexo e a Garota

In the 70's, Alex Markov (Angela Gots) is raised by her mother Clarice Markov (Ellen Greene) to be a successful ballerina, and in their home there are no mysteries or taboo related to sex, since her father, Dr. Dan Markov (Robert Hays), openly discusses this subject with his family. When Alex reaches sixteen years old, her parents split while her boyfriend presses her to have sex blurring her dreams and making her confused. With the support of her family and friends, Alex supersedes her problems.

"Alex in Wonder" is an enjoyable coming-to-age movie, and the main reason is the débutant Angela Gots. This gorgeous young actress has a magnificent and charismatic performance, giving credibility to her character and making the film work. I believe that most of the viewers will find some level of personal identification with this common story and will certainly appreciate this little gem that deserves to be discovered. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sexo e a Garota" ("Sex and the Girl")

Although in many regards mediocre, the quality of the acting in this film makes it rather decent viewing. It is interesting to watch to see Alison Lohman, whose face is expressive as ever still in a pre success and fame role, but the lead actress, Angela Gots, and the supporting cast, offer some good bits of acting too. Some parts of the cinematography and editing are also rather noteworthy, but it is mainly just the solid acting that keeps it strong, and that it sure does do. This is not an amazing film, with ordinary characters and a story that is hardly exciting, but it is probably worth a look, particularly for fans of Lohman, who plays a character that is actually atypical to her usual innocence for a change.

Have seen this film at least twice and enjoyed it every time, for lots of little (and a few big) reasons...

Many great actors assembled for it, and in intriguing roles: Alison Lohman pre-fame, Soleil Moon Frye in a rare appearance, character actor David Dukes's last film, Danny Masterson playing against his usual slacker/stoner typecasting (as a jock), Oscar nominee Genevieve Bujold, Robert Hays, Ron Jeremy, on & on... Many of the lesser-knowns give outstanding performances here too including the child roles and star Angela Gots, multi-talented & beautiful. The biggest surprise for me since isn't Lohman's ascent but Gots' lack of one yet tho i'm sure it's imminent.

Great production quality for an indie and a well-told story. I read another review that complimented the absence here of high school clichés found in most Hollywood depictions and must agree. There's a refreshing reality to the film that's hard to find in today's commodified, corporatized movies.

Highly recommend this film to fans of well-told stories and fine acting in films the mainstream doesn't make room for anymore. It's what quality cinema is all about.

This film is an homage to Judi Blume, who wrote books specifically for teen-age girls, battling with the issues of losing their virginity, what it was supposed to mean to them, finding their own passions in life and dealing with family issues. Judi's books were extremely comforting and refreshing to me, in comparison to all the myths I had been raised on in terms of first time sex, love and passion. Judi taught me that nothing is clean and simple and there are always choices to make. In the end the message is to "follow your heart", let others make their own mistakes, and see where this will lead you. Life will throw you a lot of curve balls and disappointments, but if you follow your passions you can stay the course.

Angela Gots does a real nice job as do Robert Hays and the other actors, but other than that it's obvious that The director Drew Rosenberg either was: A( not alive or B) was completely out of it: or C:) Just was hoping to get laid sometime in the early 70's. One of the biggest issues I have with so called period pieces like this is that: If you cannot license the music than don't attempt to have some lame wannabe imitate it and no one and I mean NO ONE said "far out after 1971. I really wanted to like this movie but whoever was the person on charge of continuity pretty much stole money. Later episodes of Happy Days or M*A*S*H were truer to their respective eras.