This is one of those movies that crept up on me so simultanuously subtly and suddenly that I don’t know where to begin reviewing it, except that I was making notes while it played out and I guess that’s where I’ll start …

The movie begins with a pretty intense accident as a bunch of schoolkids fool around and a guy does dangerous bellyflop into a reservoir. As this first scene played out, I read the IMDb summary – a boy is forced into the school drama production and falls in love – and was a little confused as this really didn’t connect to what I was seeing. This movie has a few dumb melodramatic detours … for the opening prank, part of the guy’s punishment is to be in the school play … y’know, I always thought being in the school play was more a privilege, reward, lol; later on, Mandy Moore’s character is embarrassed beyond belief by the worst fake photo ever of her being circulated around the school.

But honestly, for all my possible criticisms of the movie – and maybe it’s cos I’m watching it with Sarah and maybe it’s because I haven’t watched a new movie in nearly a fortnight, lol – it’s not that bad a movie. I love how Mandy Moore looked in the movie, I think about how she used to be kind of on the same level as Britney Spears on the music scene and it’s impossible to imagine Britney stripping her glossy plastic appearance down as much as Moore does here. I adore her plainness, it reminds me of Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain and breaks my heart. I’d watch it again more readily than most other films of its kind and truly, Mandy Moore is better than words can say.

For at least its first two thirds, the movie is a fraction above average generic teen movie, and Moore’s performance makes it more than tolerable. But it’s there that it takes a turn I won’t even begin to detail, and it’s like every single aspect of the movie imrpoves, from the acting to the writing, even to the soundtrack. It made me cry like a baby more than once during this last part, and it’s totally unexpected.

Highly recommended, probably the best teen movie ever made, and have a fresh box of tissues handy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 6th, 2006 at 2:17 am in 5 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.