Themes: Women's Friendship, Social Injustice, Righting the Wronged
Main Cast: Lili Taylor, Anna Grace, Bruklin Harris, Aunjanue Ellis, Ramya Pratt
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
When one of their friends commits suicide, three young women learn to stand up for themselves and strike back against male-dominated society in this drama. Patti (Lili Taylor), Emma (Anna Grace), Angela (Bruklin Harris), and Nikki (Aunjanue Ellis) are four teenage girls who attend the same high school in inner-city New York. Patti is an unwed mother struggling to complete her education as she deals with her irresponsible boyfriend, while the other three are good students going on to college after completing their final year of high school. One day, seemingly without warning, Nikki kills herself. Struggling for clues to explain the tragedy, the other three girls discover her diary and learn that she had been raped while serving an internship at a magazine. As the girls compare notes, they realize that they've all been treated badly by men; Emma was also raped, and Patti sardonically says that if rape is having sex when you don't really want to, then she's been raped by practically every guy she's ever gone out with. Eventually, the three decide that it's time to stand up for themselves and retaliate against the men who have wronged them; they begin by vandalizing the car of Emma's attacker and then formulate a plan to punish the man who raped Nikki. Screenwriter Denise Casano and writer/director Jim McKay developed much of their screenplay through improvisations with the four leading actresses, giving the film's dialogue a natural rhythm and feel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Despite a few loose ends, Jim McKay's first feature is a fresh, spontaneous film about the relationships between four high-school girls who have been abused by males in different ways. Developed in a series of improvisational workshops, with all of the principals receiving writing credit, the script pivots on the suicide of one of the group and the discovery by the others that she had been raped. Essentially a series of dialogue scenes among a group of friends hanging out talking, the film gives the characters a chance to vent about their painful experiences as victims of their boyfriends and other men. Without knowing if any of the material was autobiographical, one senses the actresses' commitment to these issues and their passion gives the film a rare sense of urgency and immediacy. When they finally decide to take revenge on some of those who have abused them, their actions seem futile, leaving the film without a sense of dramatic resolution. Although all the actresses are given too much room at times, and some scenes could have been edited, they all create complex, believable characters, with Lili Taylor a standout as a tough-talking single mother. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Guillermo Diaz - Dylan; Stephanie Berry - Angela's Mom; Tom Gilroy - Richard Helms; Michael Imperioli - Anthony; Ernestine Jackson - Nikki's Mom; John Ventimiglia - Eddie; Mary Joy - Cora; Nathaniel Freeman - Cam; Asia Minor
Credit
Melissa P. Lohman - Art Director, Adrienne Stern - Casting, Kelley Forsyth - Co-producer, Sarah Vogel - Co-producer, Carolyn Grifel - Costume Designer, Scott Ambrozy - First Assistant Director, Thomas Dennis - First Assistant Director, Jim McKay - Director, Jim McKay - Editor, Alex Hall - Editor, William Ewart - Musical Direction/Supervision, Carol Sue Baker - Musical Direction/Supervision, David Doernberg - Production Designer, Russell Fine - Cinematographer, Lauren Zalaznick - Producer, Charles Hunt - Sound/Sound Designer, Gus Koven - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Larrea - Sound/Sound Designer, Irwin Strauss - Sound/Sound Designer, Lili Taylor - Screenwriter, Anna Grace - Screenwriter, Bruklin Harris - Screenwriter, Denise Hernandez - Screenwriter, Jim McKay - Screenwriter
Girls Town is a 1996 movie debut by Jim Mckay that centers on the lives of three high-school aged women after the suicide of a friend.
Synopsis
Four women, Patti, Emma, Angela, and Nicki are completing their last year of high school. Unfortunately for the group, one of their own, Nicki unexpectedly commits suicide. The three remaining girls start to question their own lives and their relationship to each other and the outside world. The story also examines the role of working-class women in a society that doesn't value them highly. The women learn to develop strength on their own and eventually decide to use their strength to make some changes.
