Thirteen
The most impressive and amazing thing about Catherine Hardwicke’s debut film Thirteen, is that costar and co-writer Nikki Reed was only 13 when she and Hardwicke began collaborating on the script. Partially based on Reed’s life as a rebellious thirteen year old, the film stars Evan Rachel Wood as Tracy, a thirteen year-old middle school student who secretly longs to be cool. Drawn to the seductive style and grown up attitude of one of the popular girls, Evie (Reed), Tracy soon finds herself spiraling out of control into an unfamiliar world of shoplifting, substance abuse, and sex. And while her mother (Holly Hunter) notices Tracy’s frightening transformation, she is too busy battling her own demons to be of much help to her daughter.
I suppose this is an inherently ageist viewpoint, but the main problem with films about teenage rebellion and isolation is this: How do you make a compelling story out of a subject adults have seen any number of times from The Blackboard Jungle to Kids to any number of Lifetime movies of the week? Saddled with an R rating (for drug use, self destructive violence, language, and sexuality—all involving teens), the audience who really need to see this — parents with their children — may not get the chance. For those of us who can see it, Thirteen offers three of the best female performances to be featured in the same movie this year. Ms. Wood, formerly of Once and Again and in the upcoming The Missing, nails Tracy’s dilemma down to the tee. At once angry, confused, and frustrated, Wood portrays Tracy perfectly. It may also help that Wood is only 16 years old. Ms. Reed, 15, does an equally good job with Evie, the bad girl whose self-destructive behavior masks the shame and the pain of her home life. Ms. Hunter, who seems to have gone without makeup and hair for the role, easily slips into the shoes of Tracy’s mom. She may have top billing, but her supporting performance is easily one of her better roles.
The film threatens to collapse into Single White Female/Swinfan territory by the end, and there is something that smacks of racism about a film that puts its heroines in sexual situations with only black men, but overall, Hardwicke’s film is a winner. A former production designer on such diverse films as Three Kings, Vanilla Sky, and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Hardwicke takes us as far into Tracy and Evie’s world as we can go without actually being there. She deserves credit for bringing a film that deals specifically with female coming of age to the screen. One wishes girls like Tracy and Evie could actually see it.
Submitted 23 September 03. Posted 12 November 03.
