Girls Town (1996)

A look at a group of girl friends coming-of-age during their senior year of high school in urban America. Nikki and Emma have a heart to heart talk one evening about how much they'll miss ... See full summary »

Director:

Jim McKay

Writers:

Jim McKay, Denise Casano,

Stars:

Lili Taylor, Bruklin Harris, Anna Grace

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lili Taylor	...	Patti Lucci
Bruklin Harris	...	Angela
Anna Grace	...	Emma
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Nikki
Ramya Pratt	...	Tomy
Asia Minor	...	Marlys Giovanni
Carl Kwaku Ford	...	Jessie (Boom Box Guy)
Guillermo Díaz	...	Dylan
Shondalin	...	Teacher
Ernestine Jackson	...	Nikki's Mom
John Ventimiglia	...	Eddie
Mary Joy	...	Cora
Stephanie Berry	...	Angela's Mom
Tara Carnes	...	Heather
Yassira	...	Benita

Storyline

A look at a group of girl friends coming-of-age during their senior year of high school in urban America. Nikki and Emma have a heart to heart talk one evening about how much they'll miss each other at college next year, but the next day, Nikki doesn't show up at school: she's committed suicide. The friends steal Nikki's journal and discover that she'd been raped. The rest of the movie shows our heroines growing closer in the wake of Nikki's death and the relevation of her secret (Emma reveals that she's also been raped), taking revenge on the men who oppress them, and trying to grow up and move on with their lives. Emma has to deal with a shallow boyfriend, Angela with an overbearing mother, and Patti is trying to finish high school while trying to raise a child and avoid the child's loser father.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | suicide | cigarette smoking | teenage mother | rape victim | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, and for drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Poli ton koritsion

Filming Locations:

Hackensack, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$120,608 (USA) (30 August 1996)

Gross:

$403,311 (USA) (20 September 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boomer Pictures, C-Hundred Film Corporation, Dolly Bell Pictures Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Angela: What you see is what you get. It ain't cheap. It ain't free, but it's undeniably me.

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Connections

References The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Rah-Rah March - 2"
Composed by John Cacavas
Published by Kanda Music (CAPAC)
Courtesy of Promusic, Inc.
by arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

Flat but well acted and thought-provoking

At the center of this largely improvised, sometimes moving, mostly flat cinema verite-style drama about three young women who are dealing with the suicide of one of their friends, there is a mesmerizing performance by 29-year-old Lili Taylor as the Latino, single mother, high school student Patti. I've seen only a few movies with Taylor, "Short Cuts," "Say Anything..." and "Ransom," and in each she was upstaged by actors with more screen time and juicier roles, but I know she's received rave notices for her turns in "Household Saints" and as the "I" in "I Shot Andy Warhol." Here she gives an astonishingly vibrant performance that will have you guessing her age, her ethnicity, and whether or not she's really Lili Taylor. She looks the part with just some rudimentary makeup, yes, and that's nothing to sneeze at, but she also oozes authenticity -- she plays her part better than those other actresses who are just playing themselves.

The rest of the movie has a few moments of truth and also a few choice repeats from High School's Greatest Hits (no small feat either; is the independent market where we must go to find realistic portrayals of public education?), but mostly it features some uninspired improv jobs and a rather sloppy directing job by Jim McKay -- he seems unwilling to exercise any discipline over any of the actors, probably too enamored with the improv style, and as a result the difficulty in framing their more kinetic scenes becomes too much.

Add to this the fact that McKay fails to visibly conclude a story where no real story exists. Malick could end his storyless films properly; Kubrick, too. This is Sundance territory, though, the tightrope upon which films must be made that are daring enough to seem "new," but with enough of a conventional structure to sell tickets. Judging by the rejection of most Sundance releases (with a few notable exceptions) by critics, distributors, and audiences, the festival seems to be hurting itself by playing both sides. So, in a microscopic sense, does "Girls Town."