Low Self-Esteem Girl

I think I must have been sitting next to this other user who commented above. This film was terrible. The worst. Two hours that I shall never recoup. As my boss said, during the showing, "My shoe is more interesting and well developed than this piece of garbage!"

I didn't really want to post about this movie until I read the comments but now I have to. I hate it when people s**t on films for not having big budgets. I especially hate it that if a movie doesn't have a big budget people walk away saying it doesn't have characters or a story. This guy didn't have any money and he made a feature film with a DV camera and a few of his friends. He got some great performances and he gave you the sense that he was observing his characters quite astutely, but never telling you what he thought of them or making the mistake of telling you what to think of them. I got the sense he cared about his characters - there wasn't one throw away in the piece - and because this is a debut film, you would think that would be enough to earn an audience's respect. But people have to write in to IMDb and complain about how tedious the experience was for them because it was shot on DV with DV sound and below studio-quality attention to lighting. This just doesn't matter. I've seen so many films with great sound and great lighting that totally stink I don't care if I ever see great lighting in a movie again. I just care about seeing interesting situations unfold. Tedious is watching millions of dollars being flushed into some formula picture. This film had real heart.

Blaine Thurier's uncanny take on modern young Christians as they mingle with Low Self Esteem Girl Lois (who can't decide between insincere guys who declare their love for her on the first "date" and Jesus) is tragic and hilarious. If you like the uncomfortable intimacy of Cassavetes' films, you'll appreciate the warmth of this film despite its (on the surface at least) cynical stance (think "Welcome to the Dollhouse"). A Vancouver comic book artist, Thurier based the film on his strip of the same name. Framing the amateur actors in harrowing clasps, Thurier's handheld camera boosts your sense of foreboding as the Christians become perversely focused on an exorcism for one of Lois' boyfriends. Eventually, the seemingly incapable, too-nice Lois chooses sides. Low Self Esteem Girl won Best Narrative Feature at the 2001 South by Southwest juried competition, and now there's talk of a Hollywood remake. Thurier is also a member of the band The New Pornographers, who won a Juno Award in 2001 for their album Mass Romantic.

I had the misfortune of seeing this film at the Toronto Film Festival. I turned down a chance to see Tigertown and listen to the director speak. Low Self... is a no budget movie, shot and edited on DV. This in itself should not be cause for alarm, but a complete lack of story, acting or editing ability makes it a long and painful experience. I would have left early, but the entire cast and crew were on hand to watch the film and I didn't have the heart to cause anymore pain. It is unlikely that this will end up on video, or television, but if it does and you read this first. Please...save yourself, it is already too late for me.

I saw this movie at SXSW 2001, and I almost walked out in the first five minutes. But I'm glad I stayed because I really ended up enjoying the picture.

Technically, this project is extremely rough, even hideous. I won't go into all the negative things I could say about what was done wrong. Basically, everything that could be done poorly was. On a positive note though, the dialogue is intelligible. And that is a happy accident because this story, and much of the dialogue, is hysterical. Film snobs will probably never appreciate this movie, but if you're willing to look past the cinematography, it has some edge of your seat, keel-over laughs and some highly quotable lines.