Odd Girl Out (2005)

Sorry, this movie sucks

I'll tell you why so serious

Expected more

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

I was a little younger when I first watched this movie. It was about bullying and how catty girls could be; being a huge fan of the movie "Mean Girls", I decided to rewatch the movie with two of my other male friends a few days ago, thinking I would be impressed. I was not.I definitely wasn't expecting this to be a comedy so I was looking forward to some real intellectual drama. What I got instead was an average performance by most of the actors and a very melodramatic script with stereotyped characters.The mother was actually fairly realistic and her acting was undoubtedly better than anyone else's. But still, her character isn't original, because we've seen the same Mom in dozens of high school movies. Another flaw is that the film's antagonists seem to have nothing else to do with their lives other than making Vanessa miserable. It's not an accurate portrayal of high school because the mean girls aren't just mean; they're borderline evil.It's not a terrible movie but I'd never recommend it to anyone. I can see how it might appeal to some people, but it's just too over the top for me to enjoy. I would recommend watching "Mean Girls" if you're looking for a good movie with a strong message. If you're looking for something dramatic, try "Cyberbully".It isn't much better than this film but the acting is far superior and the protagonists are much more likable. But to be honest, I wouldn't really recommend that movie ordinarily, either.

After being severely bullied in middle school, and going through EXACTLY what those girls put Vanessa through, this movie definitely hits home. Here are the basics- Acting; yes, in some parts, the acting could use a little work. Mostly from the kids at school, rarely from Emily, and occasionally from Stacey's mother. But I believe that Vanessa and her mother portrayed the emotions that would be there in this scenario. During the movie, I wasn't thinking "hmm, where else have I seen this actress?" or even "alright, I could've read that line better", I was thinking "wow, she is going through such a hard time".The plot; some other reviewers have stated that the bullying was TOO harsh. Unfortunately, they are wrong. All of this bullying may not happen to someone all at once, but this kind of stuff DOES happen, and it can make high school a living h*ll. Others have also said that her reactions to everything and her relationship towards Stacey is unrealistic. Knowing from experience, I believe that Vanessa was under a deep state of depression and her view on her life caused her to make not-so-good choices, like taking the pills and cutting her hair. I also think that her desire to still be friends with Stacey was not abnormal. Her low self esteem gave her a false hope that she was still friends with Stacey.Overall, it was a great movie and i suggest it for anyone who has a teenager, or is a teenager. This movie helped me face the bullies and learn that I am special, no matter what anyone says!

Every time I watch this movie, it breaks my heart and sometimes reminds me of the problems I go through at my high school. I could not believe how mean and nasty those girls were to Vanessa Snyder. What I truly could not believe was how Vanessa's "friend" Stacey could clearly betray Vanessa like that and hurt her so viciously. I'm sure some of us knows how it feels to be hurt so badly by someone whom we thought was our friend, let alone someone who will not put on an act and just be outright nasty to you like Nikki. It is not that confusing to determine that Stacey is a fake; she truly wanted to hurt Vanessa and was not at all her friend. Just like me, Vanessa is a very emotionally sensitive person, she can get hurt very easily, but unlike her, I try to stay as far away from my back-stabbers as possible. I would never again be friends with the people who have hurt me nor give them a second chance in the risk of being hurt badly again. I used to make that mistake many times, and I have learned from it and paid the consequences. I can not believe that Vanessa's will and self-esteem were so low that she kept forgiving Stacey and was only setting herself up to be in more trouble and be hurt more wildly and that she tried to kill herself. If I were Vanessa, I would never again have been friends with Stacey the very first time that Stacey hurt her and caused all those girls to be ugly and nasty to her. And as for those hateful, nasty instant messages they would always send Vanessa, not only should Vanessa have printed them out, but her mother should have taken those nasty messages to the school board and to the police as clear, cruel evidence of those girls' nasty crimes, since the principal did not seem to take the matter very seriously, and those girls should have been heavily charged and punished. Nothing too much was done about those nasty girls, Vanessa, her mother and the principal kept treating the problem so lightly; I would have expelled the girls from school and never allowed them to graduate. Those girls seriously did not get the message when Vanessa tried to kill herself, they just kept on teasing her so badly about it; I could NOT believe those nasty hate messages they sent her after her suicide attempt, when the girl literally almost died. Those kids obviously did not care how badly they hurt Vanessa, they would never stop at it, they would never stop to think how far they would be going. I seriously can not believe and fathom just how mean and nasty human beings can be to each other; it is just unbelievable to me and always will be. How can people be so evil and heartless and not at all think about or give a hoot what the consequences would be? Do they not get it? I do not have the heart to bully someone for no reason at all, and I find no reason at all too. I am a completely sweet, lovable, down-to-earth person to anybody. Unfortunately, there are way few people like me and too many nasty people in this world.

The only reason I am giving this film a 3 is because it is supposed to raise awareness of mobbing. I had several problems with this film. First, the acting is just bad. Several times I had to guess if Stacy was trying to act fake or not when I know she was supposed to be. Second, the mother of Alexa Vega was just too passive. She doesn't ask enough questions, she leaves her daughter alone when she is obviously distraught- and even though she was supposed to be asleep, I would have stayed with her until we could have talked things out. SPOILER: then the girl tries to kill herself? I mean what were all those medications doing in her bathroom- it wasn't one she shared with her mother! Additionally, if I, as a mother, had gone to school and the school couldn't stop this bullying, because that was what it was, then I would have gone to the school board and the superintendent to get some action. SPOILER: I would have also ripped that email out of my daughter's hand and said Stacy was a liar. Finally, I had such a problem with the fact that what they were doing online is considered a hate crime. As a mother, I know where my kids surf. I would have known all about the website and chats just from the protection I have on my computers for my teenagers. There would have been none of the "who is this?" that the mom typed in and SPOILER: I wouldn't have had any of the "if you don't own up to your screen names you'll be expelled" stuff. For corn's sake, the principal was a black woman- she knows hate and discrimination- you'd think she'd be more empathetic.IMHO, this was not a realistic portrayal of any kids I know. They should have given Shari Perry more screen time instead of the little "gems of wisdom" she spouted. SPOILER: At the end, when Emily says "Give it up for the girl.", Tony (the loser that they were fighting over) claps and he is part of her group now? Like any daughter of mine would allow that to happen. The ending was super weak with Nikki using the hearts and flowers chat as ammunition.My daughter is 12 years old and said that the movie was stupid because it was unrealistic- 'nuff said!