Thirteen (2003)
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
When 13-year-old Tracy befriends Evie, the most popular girl in school, her life is turned upside down as Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs, and money. But it isn’t long before Tracy’s new lifestyle begins to take a heavy toll on her and her family.
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11 films that influenced Thirteen
What critics say influenced Thirteen
Despite all the huffing and puffing, "Thirteen" is the kind of film (like the even-worse "Kids") that will be described as "shocking" and "a wake-up call" by critics who havent had any contact with actual kids since their own adolescence-real kids will probably bust a gut laughing at the hyperbole and consider it a camp classic.
Catherine Hardwickeâs brilliant, terrifying Thirteen has been meeting a similar reaction to the one generated by Larry Clarkâs film Kids when that film came out eight years ago.
"Thirteen" hits as hard as Larry Clark's "Kids" but doesn't use the titillation factor to keep your interest.
But the fact is, this type of material has already been done and pretty recently at that in 1995's "Kids."
In this doubled effect, it recalls Larry Clark's Kids (1995), exposing bad behavior in handheld Super 16 imagery (here the camera is by the endlessly resourceful Elliot Davis [Get on the Bus, 1996]), that hovers between reportage and sensationalism.
Shockingly similar in tone as "Kids," the 1995 Larry Clark film about a group of New York City adolescents experimenting with drugs, sex, and mischief, "Thirteen" is a teen tragedy of monstrous proportions.
In this doubled effect, it recalls Larry Clark's Kids (1995), exposing bad behavior in handheld Super 16 imagery (here the camera is by the endlessly resourceful Elliot Davis [Get on the Bus, 1996]), that hovers between reportage and sensationalism.
"Thirteen" claims to be such a film but I think that kids today deserve better than something that turns out to be nothing more than a modern-day version of "Foxes".
The young actor has had her share of famous screen parents, playing daughter to Al Pacino ("Simone"), Holly Hunter ("Thirteen") and Sandra Bullock ("Practical Magic").
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While the likes of Jeremy Sisto ("May," "Angel Eyes"), Deborah Unger ("The Salton Sea," "Sunshine") and Brady Corbet (making his debut) inhabit smaller parts, Holly Hunter ("Levity," "Moonlight Mile") gets the meatiest one and figuratively and literally lets it all hang out as the equally troubled and confused mother.
Thirteen sometimes feels like the most disquieting film about trying to mother a young girl since The Exorcist.
That's not only due to its content - that rightfully earns its R rating - but also from novice scribe Nikki Reed and first-time director Catherine Hardwicke's (former production designer of "Vanilla Sky" and "Three Kings") near masterful touch in handling the material.
Hardwicke, a former production designer on films like Three Kings and Vanilla Sky, gives her first film a specific and subtle tone.
Although this is Hardwicke's directing debut, she has many important credits as a production designer ("Tombstone," " Three Kings ," " Vanilla Sky ") and the movie is smoothly professional, especially in the way it choreographs the comings and goings in Holly Hunter's chaotic household.
Director Catherine Hardwicke -- a talented production designer on films like "Tombstone," "Three Kings" and "Vanilla Sky" -- started writing the script with Reed, the daughter of her boyfriend at the time, as a creative outlet for the girl, who seemed headed down a potentially wayward path.
Director Catherine Hardwicke, who's previously worked as a production designer on films like Laurel Canyon , Antitrust , and Three Kings , collaborated with actor Nikki Reed, who was only 14 years old when she helped assemble, based on her own experiences, this exhausting and borderline exploitive look at contemporary teendom.
Production Designer Hardwicke, who sports an impressive filmography that includes such diverse films as "Laurel Canyon," "Three Kings," and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," makes her directorial debut with this film.
I was reminded of how Girl, Interrupted provided similar insurance to Angelina Jolie: sure, Jolie acted up a storm (if that's your kind of acting), but given how the movie slammed to a halt in her absence, clenched its focus in her presence, surrounded her doting close-ups with the ensemble's fascinated/horrified reactions, and plopped an unforgettably expressionist fright-wig on her head, how could she have missed?
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But like gal-pal meditations from Heavenly Creatures to Lorrie Moore's Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? to Mary Anderson's young-adult creeper I'm Nobody!
Hunter, with her improbable alignments of Southern eccentricity, psychological acuity, and exhibitionist intensity, has become an old pro at spiking shaky narratives ( Jesus' Son , Living Out Loud , O Brother, Where Art Thou? ) with needful moments of clarity.