Avaliações de usuários

The needy teenager Rena Grubb (Jena Malone) lives with her dysfunctional family of losers in a trailer park. The most popular boy in her school is dating her only for sex, and does not want to be seen with her. Her brother Jay (Brad Renfro) is gay; her older half-sister Barbie (Alicia Witt) is a bitch; and her mother Madge (Michelle Forbes) works hard in several low-qualification jobs to raise money to support her family. Rena is asking her mother to go to the annual picnic with her beloved missing low-fife father John Grubb (Chris Mulkey), who is in prison sentenced to two life sentences. Rena is pregnant and collects the cards her father sends to her from the prison. When Madge decides to go with her family to the picnic, and along the day, the family finds how mean and nasty John is, shattering the dreams of Rena with her father.

"Confessions of an American Girl" is a weird movie, with a genre oscillating between a heavy drama and a very dark comedy. The cast is excellent with great performances, highlighting Jena Malone in the role of a complex needy girl that wishes to be loved and worships her father, but in the end she discovers the truth about him. Alicia Witt is extremely sexy, her character is despicable and her performance is so good that Barbie irritated me in many moments with her mean attitude. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Confissões de uma Garota Americana" ("Confessions of an American Girl")

Pretty high school dropout Jena Malone (as Rena Grubb) is suicidal, after being left pregnant by her boyfriend. Fortunately, Ms. Malone is ineffective at killing herself, and returns to her trailer park home. Also returning is budding gay brother Brad Renfro (as Jay Grubb), fresh from four boring weeks fishing with his uncle. They, and trashy harlot sister Alicia Witt (as Barbie), live with pot-smoking mom Michelle Forbes (as Madge Grubb). Prompted by Malone, the family four decide to attend an annual prison picnic, to see absent father Chris Mulkey (as John Grubb), who is serving time for two murders.

At the picnic, the reunited Grubbs are joined by Mr. Mulkey's prison pal Clifton Collins Jr. (as Buddy). Then, skeletons begin falling out of the family closet… "We crawl on our bellies and eat the dead," is how Mr. Renfro describes the Grubb family. Jordan Brady's "American Girl" has some good moments, and is well-acted. But, the "dark comedy" aspect doesn't really succeed; it might have been better to film Scott Sandoe's story as a drama.

Director Brady is at his best when the family begins their picnic. Malone does a great job with her character's less suicidal, more introspective moments; the growth of her romanticism to rage is very nicely played. Renfro's character is hardly second rate; and, without the numerous suicide attempts, it's a more satisfying story. Renfro, and the film, are helped immensely by the appearance of Mr. Collins Jr.'s sex "Buddy". Clifton Collins Jr. is definitely "Best Supporting Actor" worthy.

******* American Girl (10/16/02) Jordan Brady ~ Jena Malone, Brad Renfro, Clifton Collins Jr.

"American Girl" is a wonderful movie about the girl Rena (played by Jena Malone from Donnie Darko) who lives with her family in a trailer. She has to hide when she's with her boyfriend so nobody sees him with her, and her father is in prison for life. After various attempts to kill herself, she decides to visit her father in prison to tell him the news: she is pregnant...

The film is funny in a tragic sort of way, and it takes up some serious issues in life. Very recommendable.

The DVD box describes "Confessions of an American Girl" as a "quirky dark comedy". If you are going to make a "black comedy" about a dysfunctional family, it better be entertaining. In order for the film to be entertaining, it better be funny. If it's not going to be funny, it better not be depressing. Unfortunately, "Confessions of an American Girl" is not only not funny, but it is both pointless and depressing. Family goes to visit their jerk father in prison, family come away agreeing he is indeed a jerk. End of story. Throw in some incest, homosexuality, endless suicide attempts, along with the depression, and you wind up with a bad movie. Not recommended. - MERK

If you like black comedy you should enjoy "Confessions of an American Girl". Rena (Jena Malone) is the embodiment of that old cartoon where the guy is sitting on the ground with a noose around his neck and a broken rope in his hand; captioned "some people can't do anything right". Rena lives in a mobile home with her somewhat "strange" family, is suicide challenged, is pregnant by a guy who doesn't want to be seen in public with her, and blames it all on the unfair eight year absence of her loving father, who is in prison for murder. Her dim memories of her father are somewhat biased. The highway and its exit ramps are metaphors for her life and her desire to end her life.

Alica Witt plays Rena's half-sister. Because Malone and Witt are arguably the most intelligent actresses in Hollywood, you immediately wonder about the wisdom of casting them as moronic trailer trash. But Malone has a special talent for playing this kind of "slack-jawed" character and Witt's standard sarcastic teen character works fine even in this environment. Their scenes together are the best ones in the film; with their reconciliation scene toward the end especially good.

Brad Renfro does a good job as Rena brother, O-Lon Jones (remember the waitress in Seinfeld's "Bubble Boy" episode) is excellent in a small role and Clifton Collins Jr. is great as Buddy, the prison trustee, who quickly sizes up the situation and sets the forces of change in motion.

While "American Girl" is an above average film, its main scene (the picnic at the prison which actually takes up the majority of the film) pushes it into cinema classic territory. This scene is an example of the way storytelling should be done, and the pacing is absolutely inspired. It is staged perfectly as Buddy orchestrates a sequence of revelations that changes all four visiting family members. Even if you hate the subject of this film it is worth watching just to see how wonderfully they manage this climatic scene. The disastrous visit over, the family leaves the prison with the statement "it went better than it could have".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

This is one of the better coming-of-age movies you probably have never seen. It's a real gem of a movie.

It's not easy to watch, that's for sure. There isn't a high-functioning person in the bunch but just about all of them have some redeeming qualities.

It's downright painful, at points, but even the bad characters manage to endear themselves to the viewer.

I grew up in the "white trash" culture and this movie has the ring of truth, to me. The characters in this movie certainly have their counterparts in the real world I come from! When watching the movie, it never occurred to me that the director was insinuating that all low-income people or southerners are like this. Just one very interesting family.

If you like to find hidden film gems, be sure to rent or TiVo "Amerian Girl." I just love these low-budget movies that are more powerful than the mega-million dollar movies.

Really honestly...apologies to Scott Sandoe's second cousin...but wow! It just doesn't get much worse than this movie. It really felt like a movie written, directed and cast by people who really like good, beautiful independent films (much like the rest of Jena Malone's body of work) but just doesn't have one single little iota of talent. Not a shred, truly. The writing is so bad I really had to laugh. And I'm not a person who immediately objects to cliché. I have more than a little fondness in my soul for melodrama. Particularly when it's Jena Malone. I can forgive a movie a lot when Jena Malone is in it. Not because she's God's gift to acting or anything but she's very pleasant to watch...doesn't do very much different in each role she is in, but in general picks good movies and is pleasant. Saved is fantastic. United States of Leland was pretty good. Heck...Life as a House had some nice moments. But wow! This movie...so bad. It was like the screenwriter chose a different cliché or hackneyed bit of dialogue for each scene and then structured each scene around it. I started cheering every time we reached the cliché for the season. It couldn't decide what genre it was in...it had no idea how to make us feel or identify with characters...it was offensively cliché towards the class of people it was...caricaturing (I can't bring myself to describe it as illustrating) And the father character? The movie would have made a lot more sense titled Ernest Goes to Prison.

Please please please don't watch this movie. I watched it all the way through for the same reason one watches a car wreck...but please please get something else. Anything else.

Might make a good drinking game...but be sure to have several drinks in you before you start. And to Scott Sandoe's second cousin...yes the director's camera work was odd at a couple of points. And yes...good on him for managing to write a screenplay and managing to get it produced. But let's be honest...it was a bad screenplay. What was wrong with the film more than anything else (even worse than the casting of the father....which actually may have been inevitable given how the character was written...I'm not even sure I can blame that on the actor) was the (I hesitate to even use the word) writing.

If you're looking for a reason to not try to become a screenwriter and instead go get your law degree like your Dad wants you to...watch this film. Otherwise...walk into a rental store blindfolded and grab something at random...but make sure, when you're checking it out, to ask the clerk to make absolutely dead certain that the movie you are renting is not Confessions of an American Girl.

I enjoyed this movie. Quite a bit, actually.

Jena Malone is a great actress, and like another reviewer said, she's destined for truly great things. I think this film really showed that off. She's got a great talent that's barely been tapped, and I know that we'll be seeing her in other movies in the near future. If she's able to make a smooth transition into adult roles, I can see her as a leading lady in the not-too-distant future.

The story about a teenage girl traveling to visit her father in prison for the annual picnic seems boring and uninteresting, but a great supporting cast and excellent direction makes it well worth watching.

If you like indie films, this is one to check out.

Well, it means, you and your family are all losers and dumber than dirt, unfortunately.

The film's central character is Rena Grubb (Jena Malone), a young teenage girl. I don't know Rena's exact age, maybe 13 or 14. She lives in a trailer park with her mother, older brother Jay, and older half-sister, Barbie. Rena's father, John, is in prison serving two life sentences.

Rena is not happy. She makes several suicide attempts. Nor does she have much reason to be happy all things considered.

She's being used by the popular boy in school, who doesn't even want to be seen in public with her, and then she gets pregnant by him. Her own mother's first pregnancy was at 15 - and the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, evidently.

One thing Rena is hanging onto is thoughts of her Daddy. He got sent away when she was very young, so she has only scant memories of him. She feels Daddy not being there is why things are going so badly for her and the family.

Rena finally badgers her mother into all of them attending the picnic at the prison and seeing John.

A whole lot of truths are revealed during that family picnic at the prison.

To say much more would give too much away so I'll stop at this point, and say only that the film was excellent. It is a dark comedy at times, poignant at other times and held my interest completely.

All the performers gave 100% to their roles.

10 stars.

I am a huge fan of Jena Malone and all of her movies and this is no exception. If you like drama then you will love it. There is also that little bit of very clever humor in it that makes it that much more enjoyable. One of the best things about the movie is the whole concept of the theme(s). Disappointment, acceptance, and family. Sometimes, you don't get what it is you're expecting to get. You have to see people for who they are and trust the people who have always been there for you and have your best interests at heart. This movie does not relate to everyone. Not everyone grew up in a trailer park. Not everyone's father is in jail. Not everyone has the same kind of problems and emotions that Jena Malone's character has. But I don't think the movie is supposed to relate to everyone. You can interpret the message any way you want, but what I get out of it is that whatever problems you have in your life, there is a way to make it better. See Confessions of an American Girl. Even if you don't get any message out of it, it is still a great movie.

I really liked this film. However, as I stated above, if you're from the south and have a sense of humor, then you are given the permission to watch this film with open arms, otherwise, don't watch this film if you're going to find it too offensive. Alright ya'll?

The Grubb family is the epitome of American trash---they don't have the proper education nor ambition to drive them out of their downbeat trailer-house, daisy dukes and cold slurpees. The plot narration revolves around Rena Grubb (Jena Malone) and her low-incomed family living somewhere in the South. The Grubb's are invited to attend a annual picnic to go see their father. Later on the audience finds out that this "annual picnic" is set up for criminal offenders.

If one word were to describe this film, it would be "trailer", and I think everyone who has been continuously watching Indy films with Brad Renfro and Jena Malone in it definitely knows what that means. I don't think anyone should be surprised with the content. Yes there is self-cutting, sex, teen pregnancy and drugs in it (done by the one and only Alicia Witt of course) I give props to whoever made up the jingle to: "Welcome back Jay, welcome back Jay, welcome back Jay Jay Jr."---this song defines the whole movie and shall go down in history in my book.

8/10

Jena Malone never stops amaze me. This movie have everything, including great style. It's about a girl named Rena who wants to kill herself because she thinks that her life isn't worth anything..The movie makes no sense, but oh my goddess it's great. I totally recommend it!

This film starts off with a young girl, Rena Gruff, (Jena Malone) sitting on a floor and breaks a picture frame in order to cut her wrists. You also proceed to see Rena try to hang herself on a dead tree limb and her efforts fail. Rena has a half-sister named Jay Gruff who looks down on her younger sister and treats her very badly. Rena also has a brother named Jay Gruff, (Brad Renfo) who is a young boy who seems hen pecked with all the woman around him. However, he loves his mother, Madge, (Michelle Forbes) who loves her family and holds the family together. The father is in prison for killing someone and most of the family do not care very much for him at all. Rena has a deep interest in her father and wants the family to visit their father for a prison picnic and no one in the family really want to attend, but Madge changed the families minds and that is when the film takes a very interesting change and there is some dark comedy, but this film is rather depressing.

I am extremely proud since Scott Sandoe is my second cousin. I'm really excited for him, and I hope all of you other movie goers watch and enjoy his movie. Even if the director was a psycho with the camera. I am going to see him this summer, and hopefully you guys will be seeing more of me in the next couple of years. If you don't, then i guess you will all have to live your every day lives thinking that some guy on IMDb could have been big, but i didn't believe in him. Guess What, I'll be in LA waiting for that dream to be caught and you won't be able to put me down. Well, I am going to work my butt off for my dreams, and Scott getting his movie out just showed me that my dreams can come true. Catch you later.