American Girl (2002) Reviews

• Picnic of the Dysfunctional Grubb Family

  claudio_carvalho2008-02-08

  The needy teenager Rena Grubb (Jena Malone) lives with her dysfunctional family of losers in a trailer park. The most popular boy in her school is dating her only for sex, and does not want to be seen with her. Her brother Jay (Brad Renfro) is gay; her older half-sister Barbie (Alicia Witt) is a bitch; and her mother Madge (Michelle Forbes) works hard in several low-qualification jobs to raise money to support her family. Rena is asking her mother to go to the annual picnic with her beloved missing low-fife father John Grubb (Chris Mulkey), who is in prison sentenced to two life sentences. Rena is pregnant and collects the cards her father sends to her from the prison. When Madge decides to go with her family to the picnic, and along the day, the family finds how mean and nasty John is, shattering the dreams of Rena with her father. "Confessions of an American Girl" is a weird movie, with a genre oscillating between a heavy drama and a very dark comedy. The cast is excellent with great performances, highlighting Jena Malone in the role of a complex needy girl that wishes to be loved and worships her father, but in the end she discovers the truth about him. Alicia Witt is extremely sexy, her character is despicable and her performance is so good that Barbie irritated me in many moments with her mean attitude. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Confissões de uma Garota Americana" ("Confessions of an American Girl")

• Highly Recommended-Great Staging & Sequencing of a Complex Scene

  aimless-462005-07-28

  If you like black comedy you should enjoy "Confessions of an American Girl". Rena (Jena Malone) is the embodiment of that old cartoon where the guy is sitting on the ground with a noose around his neck and a broken rope in his hand; captioned "some people can't do anything right". Rena lives in a mobile home with her somewhat "strange" family, is suicide challenged, is pregnant by a guy who doesn't want to be seen in public with her, and blames it all on the unfair eight year absence of her loving father, who is in prison for murder. Her dim memories of her father are somewhat biased. The highway and its exit ramps are metaphors for her life and her desire to end her life. Alica Witt plays Rena's half-sister. Because Malone and Witt are arguably the most intelligent actresses in Hollywood, you immediately wonder about the wisdom of casting them as moronic trailer trash. But Malone has a special talent for playing this kind of "slack-jawed" character and Witt's standard sarcastic teen character works fine even in this environment. Their scenes together are the best ones in the film; with their reconciliation scene toward the end especially good. Brad Renfro does a good job as Rena brother, O-Lon Jones (remember the waitress in Seinfeld's "Bubble Boy" episode) is excellent in a small role and Clifton Collins Jr. is great as Buddy, the prison trustee, who quickly sizes up the situation and sets the forces of change in motion. While "American Girl" is an above average film, its main scene (the picnic at the prison which actually takes up the majority of the film) pushes it into cinema classic territory. This scene is an example of the way storytelling should be done, and the pacing is absolutely inspired. It is staged perfectly as Buddy orchestrates a sequence of revelations that changes all four visiting family members. Even if you hate the subject of this film it is worth watching just to see how wonderfully they manage this climatic scene. The disastrous visit over, the family leaves the prison with the statement "it went better than it could have". Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

• Great indie!

  agirlwhoreallylovesmovies2005-02-22

  I enjoyed this movie. Quite a bit, actually. Jena Malone is a great actress, and like another reviewer said, she's destined for truly great things. I think this film really showed that off. She's got a great talent that's barely been tapped, and I know that we'll be seeing her in other movies in the near future. If she's able to make a smooth transition into adult roles, I can see her as a leading lady in the not-too-distant future. The story about a teenage girl traveling to visit her father in prison for the annual picnic seems boring and uninteresting, but a great supporting cast and excellent direction makes it well worth watching. If you like indie films, this is one to check out.

• Trailer life

  jotix1002006-04-25

  Rena, a teen ager living in a small community, is the by-product of parents that, having marrying young, don't have a clue as to how to bring up their children. Rena, not surprisingly, follows what other teens in the same situation have gone through. Her romance with a boy with Kenton, a rich boy produces a sad situation for Rena and her family. Rena tried unsuccessfully to take her own life, but nothing happens. The next thing this young woman wants to do is to go to her father's picnic that will take place in the prison where he is serving a sentence. Rena wants to tell him about the impending changes in her life. What happens in that fated outing will not only transform Rena's life, but also her brother Jay will comes to terms with a problem that is troubling him, his own homosexuality. "American Girl" is a dark comedy directed by Jordan Brady. The screen play is by Scott Sandoe. Mr. Brady has given the film a light touch instead of going for a more dramatic take that wouldn't have helped the project. Jena Malone is a young actress who is a natural for the movies, as proved by her other appearances, notably in "Saved". She carries the movie and makes the viewer feel for her Rena, who in another type of environment and with another family, would have turned out differently. The brother Jay is played by Brad Renfro, another young actor who has been seen in other quirky films. Alicia Witt, who plays Barby, the sarcastic half-sister, doesn't have much to do. Michelle Forbes and Chris Mulkey portray the parents of this confused family. Clifton Collins Jr. has a good opportunity as Buddy, the man that clarifies things for the confused Jay. The film shows a reality that is seldom seen in other mainstream films in which teens are happy and carefree, which might be right, but they haven't have to deal with what life has given Rena and her family.

• One of best coming-of-age movies you'll probably never see

  Screen-72006-03-19

  This is one of the better coming-of-age movies you probably have never seen. It's a real gem of a movie. It's not easy to watch, that's for sure. There isn't a high-functioning person in the bunch but just about all of them have some redeeming qualities. It's downright painful, at points, but even the bad characters manage to endear themselves to the viewer. I grew up in the "white trash" culture and this movie has the ring of truth, to me. The characters in this movie certainly have their counterparts in the real world I come from! When watching the movie, it never occurred to me that the director was insinuating that all low-income people or southerners are like this. Just one very interesting family. If you like to find hidden film gems, be sure to rent or TiVo "Amerian Girl." I just love these low-budget movies that are more powerful than the mega-million dollar movies.