A lot of teens, especially girls, can see something of themselves in Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood, above right), who is making the step from elementary school to middle school and desperately wants to fit in. Her easiest path is to make friends with Evie (Nikki Reed), an older, bad influence whose suggestive fashion statements drive the boys wild.
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Thirteen (R) (100 min.) - Catherine Hardwicke's first film as a director, after 15 years as a production designer, is a scared-straight story all parents should see with their teenage children. Not that it provides answers to the questions of youthful self-destruction. That's what parents are for. But Thirteen is a provocative conversation-starter about the pitfalls of peer pressure, and talking about adolescent problems is the best, albeit toughest, way to solve them.
A lot of teens, especially girls, can see something of themselves in Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), who is making the step from elementary school to middle school and desperately wanting to fit in. Her easiest path is to make friends with Evie (Nikki Reed), an older, bad influence whose suggestive fashion statements drive the boys wild. At first Evie insults Tracy, then teases her with false friendship. When Tracy impresses Evie by stealing a woman's purse stuffed with cash, they go on a shopping binge that cements a friendship headed for trouble.
Tracy begins dressing provocatively, acting more sexually experienced than she is and sampling drugs that Evie sells on the side. Tracy's mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter), is too busy with her own Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and co-dependent boyfriend (Jeremy Sisto) to notice. The girls are on their own, trying everything and learning nothing. Eventually, their relationship spirals into dares and deceptions that grow increasingly pitiful, while the girls convince themselves they're having fun.
A lot of movies would dwell on the thrills of this behavior, then toss in a late change of direction that supposedly justifies the delinquency. Not Thirteen. It's hard to imagine anyone admiring what Tracy is doing to her life and what Evie has already done to hers. Consequences accrue, but not the brushes with the law or death that filmmakers typically rely upon. It's an internalized punishment these girls suffer; it can scare young viewers more than the preachy statements about good citizenship that may have worked on their parents.
Thirteen's strength is that it comes from the trenches, written by Reed as a personal diary of her 13th year, then expanded to a screenplay with Hardwicke's assistance. Reed is a marvelous find: a good actor with great looks, who is, apparently, quite insightful as a writer. She lived through that precarious year and, unlike many teenagers, knew she wasn't suffering alone. Thirteen is a chilling way to pass along survival tips that may prevent stepping into the same traps.
Hardwicke's shaky handheld camera occasionally goes too far with the verite feel, but the actors, each ferociously plumbing the depths of their characters, make Thirteen seem painfully real. The story ambles through episodes in Tracy's downfall, not flowing along as much as accumulating, creating a mural of strained emotions, bad decisions and desperate denial.
It's raw, honest and riveting. And it's rated R. That means people who would benefit most from seeing Thirteen can't get into the theater; they probably won't want to see it with their parents either, simply to avoid confrontation. Any high school teachers who wanted to show the movie in classes to spark personal-development discussions would have my vote of approval. Why shield teenagers from a responsible screen interpretation of what they live through every day? A
