Themes: First Love, Sexual Awakening, High School Life
Main Cast: Dominique Swain, Sean Patrick Flanery, Summer Phoenix, Tara Reid, Selma Blair, Portia de Rossi
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Dominique Swain stars as spoiled, small-town high-school senior, 18-year-old Andrea Marr, who lives with her parents in an upscale suburb of Porter City, Washington -- where Andrea and her gal pals make the scene at various concerts and clubs. Before the summer ends and an Ivy League school takes her East, the virginal and somewhat confused Andrea hopes to achieve sexual satisfaction. She chooses Kevin (Channon Roe), but the encounter isn't quite what she was expecting, perhaps because she's more attracted to rocker Todd Sparrow (Sean Patrick Flanery). Absorbing advice from her friend Rebecca (Summer Phoenix), she plots a course of action and drops Kevin. After she succeeds in linking with her one-and-only, it's not long before she's disappointed to find that Sparrow has flown the coop. Swain's effective voiceover narration contrasts her careful plans with her impulsive actions. Shown in the market section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
An otherwise inconsequential tale of a privileged high school senior's dalliances with rock & roll groupiedom, Girl achieves a measure of interest by gathering a who's who of young actresses just before they became known names. Lolita's Dominique Swain is the titular lass, and she's flanked by a punked-out Tara Reid, as well as Selma Blair, Portia de Rossi, and Summer Phoenix. These debutants give it their best shot, but the script dangles them in a story that tries to tackle the high-school social order, hero worship, teen suicide, and the failing loyalties of friendship, all against a Pacific Northwest music scene that already feels dated by the film's 1998 release. The dialogue is immature, especially Swain's hasty narration, which reads too much like teenybopper diary entries -- even when that's what it's supposed to be. Populated with character types rather than characters, Girl is heavy on suggestions of universal truth -- right down to its presumptuously overreaching title -- and light on believable examples of same. But its appeal to viewers who find themselves in a similar station of life shouldn't be underestimated, nor should the wealth of talented young actresses, making more promising strides toward maturation than their characters. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Channon Roe - Kevin; Christopher Kennedy Masterson - Richard; David Moslow - Greg; Rosemary Forsyth - Mother; James Karen - Father; Richard Hillman - Luke
Credit
Floyd Albee - Art Director, Anne McCarthy - Associate Producer, David E. Tolchinsky - Associate Producer, Mary Vernieu - Casting, Anne McCarthy - Casting, Michael Alan Kahn - Co-producer, John Saviano - Co-producer, Mary Vernieu - Co-producer, Jonathan Kahn - Director, Gillian Hutshing - Editor, Michael Burns - Executive Producer, Donald Kushner - Executive Producer, Peter Locke - Executive Producer, Marc Butan - Executive Producer, Phil Mittleman - Executive Producer, Michael Tavera - Composer (Music Score), Magda Lavandez-Berliner - Production Designer, Tami Reiker - Cinematographer, Brad Wyman - Producer, Jeff Most - Producer, Chris Hanley - Producer, David E. Tolchinsky - Screenwriter, Blake Nelson - Book Author
Andrea Marr (Dominique Swain) is a bright, straight-A, mature, 18-year-old high school senior on the verge of womanhood who decides to abandon her sheltered, boring lifestyle and her bookish friend Darcy (Selma Blair) for a look into the local rock and roll scene. There she meets local rock singer Todd Sparrow and meets new friends aspiring rock star Cybil (Tara Reid), fellow student outgoing fellow groupie Rebecca (Summer Phoenix), and music critic Kevin (Channon Roe), whom she loses her virginity with.
