Themes: High School Life, Kids in Trouble, Self-Destructive Romance
Main Cast: Dominique Swain, Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips, Mischa Barton, Alberta Watson
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Cat Storm (Dominique Swain) is a bored high school girl in New York City who follows her petulant, rich friends from one coming-of-age adventure to another. They experiment with cruelty, rudeness, brazenness, and idiocy before moving onto sex and drugs. Cat's best friend, Delilah (Bijou Phillips), is kicked out of school for using cocaine (her father's), forcing Cat to become best friends with Grace (Mischa Barton), who guides her into the arms of William (Brad Renfro), the boy Cat's had a crush on for some time. Eventually they all wind up at a luxurious country estate for a weekend of drugs, passion, and, inevitably, gruesome murder. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Review
Tart, a straightforward depiction of self-possessed, spoiled teens, is the best argument yet for getting an after-school job in the late high school years. Like Larry Clark's Kids, the film is told in realistic scenes that sometimes are uncomfortably close to the truth, but without Clark's near-documentary feel. Dominique Swain has mastered the vapid, self-possessed character (see also Dead in the Water) very early in her career, but her act grows weary quickly in this one. Tart -- the title and box are supposed to make you think something far more lascivious than what actually goes on -- isn't terrible; in fact, the effortless acting is quite impressive. It's just that there's a moral crying out to be made, but writer/director Christina Wayne backs away from actually making a judgment. You never feel bad for these kids. In fact, "Brats" would have been a more appropriate title. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Gersha Phillips - Costume Designer, Christina Wayne - Director, Ray Hubley - Editor, Margot E. Lulick - Executive Producer, Clark Peterson - Executive Producer, Hwang Jeehun - Composer (Music Score), Marian Wihak - Production Designer, Stephen Kazmierski - Cinematographer, Patrick D. Choi - Producer, Nile Niami - Producer, Diane Sillan Isaacs - Producer, Christina Wayne - Screenwriter
Tart is a 2001 coming of age film starring Dominique Swain as Cat Storm, a teen going to a Manhattan prep school, who must deal with the issues of sex and drugs, and the loss of her best friend Delilah Milford, played by Bijou Phillips. Mischa Barton (The O.C.), also appears as Grace Bailey, who becomes Cat's best friend in the wake of Delilah's death. Brad Renfro plays the delinquent love interest. Cat has to choose between her best friend or the "in crowd" of snobby teens at her school. Bijou Phillips and Brad Renfro both starred in the 2001 film Bully.[1]
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