Thirteen (2003)

The Age of Commercialism

Sorry, this movie sucks

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie really made me realize how difficult parenting can be, and how horrible a life can be for teenagers.This movie really portrays the Problems present today in teenagers that we ignore. The movie is very well directed and will really make you feel it's passion and realistic Drama.

Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) is a smart, sweet, conscientious 13 year old. She lives with her single recovering addict mom Melanie (Holly Hunter). She befriends popular Evie Zamora (Nikki Reed) who leads down a road of stealing, skipping school, drugs, disobedience, and sex. Her mom struggles to stay in her life but she pulls away in anger. She doesn't like her mother's boyfriend Brady (Jeremy Sisto) either. Evie's home life is even more unstable living with her cousin Brooke (Deborah Kara Unger).Catherine Hardwicke is giving this a spark that is more than an afterschool special dressed up with a lot of edge. It's written with some stories from Nikki Reed's life. ERW is a solid lead with both innocence and rebellion. She shows that she's a compelling actress. Holly Hunter is able to elevate her character beyond the usual clueless parent stereotype. Their relationship is the ultimate heart of the movie.

I've seen this movie twice. It's one of those films that's very entertaining, but not for its intended reasons. It's one of these teen "awareness" movies that tries to scare parents into getting irrational ideas about their own children. However, it fails miserably on account of the story and the characters being completely unrealistic.The story goes that there's a thirteen-year-old girl who does well in school and apparently has a good, moral upbringing despite her family being comically dysfunctional even from the beginning. However, she meets another seventh grader who happens to be the exact representation of what parents don't want their daughters to become. She falls into peer pressure (of course) and starts shoplifting, cursing (oh my), and of course doing drugs. Yes, it's quite cliché when it comes to her downfall. The interesting part comes while she's in this stage, which is when the comedy really begins. I think a huge problem is that it seems very implausible for a seventh grader to be doing most of what she does in this movie. I won't even bother listing everything, but I'll just say it would have been a completely different experience if the girls were maybe, 16.I mentioned the dysfunctional family, which is really an understatement. The girl's mother is possibly the worst mother I've ever seen, and the entire family is really just completely insane it seems. The family is another huge blow the film's realism. It actually reminded me a bit of Visitor Q, hence the title. It's definitely a major exaggeration, but the fact that this would even bring that movie to my mind shows what I'm talking about.Still though, it's entertaining to watch just because of how ridiculous everything is. There's certainly nothing to get out of its message, but watching the family deal with all this stuff at once is mildly entertaining. I'd recommend watching it as a comedy-drama. But actually, Visitor Q is probably even better for that, so just see that instead.

It's weird to think that Catherine Hardwicke of Twilight fame directed this movie. While it's not that good of a movie, it's truly a scary look into our ever changing society. It's not so uncommon to hear stupid children having unprotected sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and doing crime. Children like that will regret wasting their childhood. Ladies and gentlemen if you're a parent, raise your children right! If you're turning thirteen, don't end up like these characters in the film. If you're still acting immature, grow up. Despite the fact that the acting is pretty good in this film and it's a cautious moral tale of losing control of yourself during your teen years. This movie was really hard to watch. Thirteen year olds taking drugs, having sex and behaving horribly really is not that entertaining to watch. Brace yourself as this movie is just a catalog of bad actions that will anger you. The movie is about thirteen year old girl name Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) whom seems like a sweet, innocent little girl with big plans for her life. Once turning thirteen, Tracy's behavior starts to change to the worst when she meets a new friend at school name Evie (Nikki Reed). The whole movie is Tracy rebelling against her mother Melanie (Holly Hunter) in the most self-destructive ways possible with a girl who is even more troubled. There are teens who act this way in real life, but these are the very worst cases. This movie serve one purpose by showing shock value. The audience is shown the most deplorable things one teenage girl can do and can get away with showing on screen. It's sickly to watch. There is barely any redemption arch at all, as the movie is 1 hour and half full of teen angst. While the movie 'Kids' was a little bit more shocking due to its documentary style, this movie acts like a melodrama badly made episode of Jerry Springer. It has the very stereotypical story plot of a spoil brat not getting her way so feel bad for me. I really hate the movie makes piercing tongues and belly buttons seems like a gateway to drugs and crime. There are plenty of people that get it, and are well off. Why was there pointless nudity in the form of the mother Holly Hunter? She didn't need to be nude in this film. I know it supposed to show that she is losing herself due to her daughter's actions, but why have her nude doing that? It's not like any 13 year old can even watch the movie as it is R rating. Rather than trying to get this PG-13, the director fails. There are films that make these bad actions look cool that are rated PG-13. This movie if rightly watch by a teenager can understand in dealing more intelligently and forthrightly with the consequences of the behavior it depicts. The movie carry an interesting educational message but it never got solves. The movie also makes children of American society looks like bad. There are many places in the world and even in America, where teenagers like this do not exist and never have. Yes, it's true that some teenagers act like this, but as young as thirteen year olds? Maybe 15, but you'd be surprised what 13 year olds do these days. Another cliché that must be mentioned was the decision of having the blonde blue-eyed girl portraying the good girl gone bad as the color girl portraying the seed of evil. Although in real life the Latina girl had been the blonde's role. Surprising the movie is based on the life of the actress that plays Evie, Nikki Reed who co-wrote the screenplay. Everyone who hates Evie in this movie that just proves that Nikki Reed is an amazing actress because in real life she's such a sweetheart! She was Tracy in real life. The very last scene where Tracy spinning at the playground is disappointing, don't know if it's supposed to be a conceptual scene. I just leave it at that. If you want a film overflowing with pretensions of importance, piercings, and racial stereotyping, by all means, get this movie. If you want a real, profound insight into the mind of a teenager, read Seigel's Like the Red Panda or Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.