Girls Town (1996)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The only real problem I have with this film is that it implies that men are the cause of most - if not practically all - of women's problems. In its quest to prove this point the film gives an unrepresentative portrayal of men, and treads into feminist waters. It isn't representative because two of the four girls were (date-)raped. That's 50%. And of the other two one is constantly beaten by her child's father. That's 75% abused, altogether.After Taylor hears that two of her friends (including the suicide girl) were date-raped she says that this is completely common and so normal it isn't even worth talking about. This is nonsense; I find it hard to believe that male urban youth of America mostly consists of violent thugs and rapists. Later on Taylor complains that she would never get hired as a mechanic because she is a woman. (Who had the brilliant idea of casting Taylor as a hobby mechanic?!) And what's this PC nonsense about date-rape anyway? Americans have too few ("real") problems so they have to invent them.The girl with the long nails is supposed to play basketball; and how exactly does she manage to do that, with those gross, gigantic nails? She couldn't play golf with those things! And how come the white girl didn't get into trouble with the guy whose car she demolished (since the whole school knew who did it)? As far as the girl who committed suicide is concerned, at the beginning of the film she expresses her wish to study "African-American history". (She gets accepted into Princeton but she decides to waste it on something useless as that. Who's gonna hire her with a degree like that?) Otherwise, this film about the increasingly dumbed-down (American) youth is interesting to watch. The revenge scenes are fun, and the dialog is generally good. Taylor is quite good. The (c)rap soundtrack is hideous, though (but fitting in a way, I suppose).

A character-driven slice-of-urban-life flick which traces the activities of a trio of high school girls in the wake of the suicide of a friend. Not unlike other films which portray urban dwelling, rebellious, socially disenfranchised street kids, "Girl's Town" seems to have no point and no purpose beyond providing a realistic window to an underclass of females. A showcase for good some performances, this film will likely be most appreciated by females and those interested in female issues.

I'm a 62-year-old white male in Northern Michigan, and I liked this film. Rightly or wrongly, I felt that I was getting a good inside look at a culture that I have never brushed shoulders with. Lili Taylor, for a 30-year-old gal from Illinois, seems to have captured the spirit of Patti in a very convincing way, and her body language showed that she really had rapport with her friends. Under ordinary circumstances, I would not choose to watch a film about the subject of school kids in Brooklyn or Hackensack or wherever, but I liked these kids. It's a nice piece for older people to watch, and be entertained by people telling you things you probably didn't know. Rightly or wrongly. I'm not in a position to judge the authenticity of the cultural overview that the film presents. Warning to old fuddie-duddies: The F-word uccurs 31 times in a 51-second scene (Is this a new record?) so don't watch if the grand-kids are around!

This is one of those movies that I can see over and over again and never get tired of. It's a very realistic depiction of urban life and growing up in the big city. It was shot in my old neighborhood of Astoria, Queens and I was amazed at the accuracy in carrying that "vibe" to the big screen. The story is very moving and believably portrayed with an amazing cast led by Lili Taylor. The soundtrack is also worth picking up and consists of a compilation of some of the greatest female artists in music today (PJ Harvey, Lamb, Queen Latifah, Luscious Jackson).