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- Thirteen (18)
- PixieOfDoom's review
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| Value for Money | 9.5/10  |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 9.5/10 |
By PixieOfDoom
on 12th Dec 2005
| Starring Actor/Actress | Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed, Jeremy |
|---|---|
| Where Did You See It? | DVD |
| Value for money | 9/10 |
| Overall value | 9/10 |
 PixieOfDoom's recommendation | |
Thirteen is a very similar sort of film to Kids, in that it shows what a couple of thirteen year old girls do that their parents don't know about. Unlike Kids, however, they give the back story to explain the behavior and present a far more three-dimensional group of characters.
Tracie is desperate to be popular and to make friends with Evie, the girl all the boys fancy. She decides to change her image and suddenly, with some new clothes Evie is inviting her shopping, but to really win Evie's trust she has to steal a wallet and take Evie and her pals on a shopping spree. From thereon in Tracie and Evie are best friends - drinking, smoking pot, shoplifting, skipping classes, fooling around with boys.
It's not all fun and games though. Tracie's mom is a recovering drug addict who has moved her recovering drug addict boyfriend back into the house, much to Tracie's dismay (even though he does appear to be clean and responsible). Her father has a new job and new family, and barely notices she's alive. Evie lives with her cousin Brooke who is a barmaid with her own problems, who barely notices that Evie is all but living at Tracie's house.
The adults are flawed and don't want to admit that their kids are going off the rails. Holly Hunter as Tracie's mom, Mel, does an admirable job of portraying her as a caring parent who is in danger of being dragged under by all the bad things in her life. She knows something is not right with her daughter, but she doesn't quite know how to reach her.
In the end, as things spiral out of control and Tracie takes to self-harming more and more, you really do find yourself rooting for the adults to find a way to save their kids.
This was a hectic, dark and well-scripted film with a brilliant cast containing, besides Hunter, Nina out of 24 and Billy out of Six Feet Under. The acting was superb, and far from being a happy tale of free-spirited childhood, it was a gripping and realistic portrayal of two young girls struggling to deal with all of the bad things in their lives.
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