Normal Adolescent Behavior (2007)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Beth Schacter

Writer (WGA):

Beth Schacter (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Wendy and her friends avoid the heartless world of random hookups and friends-with-benefits by spending all their time together. When she meets Sean, Wendy is torn between her genuine affection and desire for him and her commitment to her friends, especially her best friend Billie: and Billie isn't interested in losing her friends.

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Making Out | Teens | High School | Break Up

Cast

Amber Tamblyn	...	Wendy
Ashton Holmes	...	Sean
Kelli Garner	...	Billie
Daryl Sabara	...	Nathan
Julia Garro	...	Ann
Kelly Lynch	...	Helen
Edward Tournier	...	Jonah
Stephen Colletti	...	Robert
Ricky Ullman	...	Price (as Raviv Ullman)
Hilarie Burton	...	Ryan
Sean Haberle	...	Bill
Gloria Crist	...	Abby
Elizabeth Nolan	...	Allyson
Scott Coffey	...	Philosophy Teacher
Shane McAvoy	...	Philosophy Student

Also Known As:

A Story of a Teenager (Europe: English title)
Havoc 2: Normal Adolescent Behavior (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, language, some drug and alcohol use - all involving teens.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Rhode Island, USA

Company:

Tax Credit Finance

Quotes:

Wendy: [to Sean] You mean fairytale land? Yeah....I've heard of that place.

Movie Connections:

Follows Havoc (2005)

Soundtrack:

Benjamin

Stayed with me for weeks

I have to disagree with those who didn't like the film. I saw it at Tribeca as well and I thought it was terrific. That said, I think one's perspective on this film has a lot to do with what you bring to it.

If your own adolescent experience was intensely emotional and you were sexually active at a young age, then this film feels like someone stole your diary. Yes, scenes are highly charged and the characters' reactions are large. But if you lived it, you reacted that way yourself.

As I watched it, I felt that I had been in the place of almost every character at one point or another: the inexperienced person overwhelmed with jealousy and with a terribly romantic idea of love, the hyper-experienced person shunned and judged for their choice outside the bounds of "normal", an average member in thrall to the charismatic leader, and the manipulative leader who fears the loss of their group if anyone exits or enters without permission. I played each and every one of those roles somewhere between time I was 16 and 21.

Ultimately, this is a film about our petty obsessions and the intensity with which they rule our lives. If you loved reading Scott Spencer's "Endless Love", Nabokov's "Lolita", Patrick Süskind's "Perfume", or "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice, you will probably be drawn to this world.