Thirteen (2003)

A thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend.

Director:

Catherine Hardwicke

Writers:

Catherine Hardwicke, Nikki Reed

Stars:

Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikki Reed	...	Evie Zamora
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Tracy Freeland
Vanessa Hudgens	...	Noel (as Vanessa Anne Hudgens)
Holly Hunter	...	Melanie Freeland
Brady Corbet	...	Mason Freeland
Ulysses Estrada	...	Rafa
Sarah Blakley-Cartwright	...	Medina (as Sarah Blakely-Cartwright)
Jenicka Carey	...	Astrid
Sarah Clarke	...	Birdie
Jasmine Di Angelo	...	Kayla
Tessa Ludwick	...	Yumi
Kip Pardue	...	Luke
Cece Tsou	...	Businesswoman
Jeremy Sisto	...	Brady
Jamison Yang	...	Science Teacher

Storyline

At the edge of adolescence, Tracy is a smart straight-A student--if not a little naive (it seems...she smokes and she cuts to alleviate the emotional pain she suffers from having a broken home and hating her mom's boyfriend, Brady.) When she befriends Evie, the most popular and beautiful girl in school, Evie leads Tracy down a path of sex, drugs and petty crime (like stealing money from purses and from stores). As Tracy transforms herself and her identity, her world becomes a boiling, emotional cauldron fueled by new tensions between her and her mother--as well as, teachers and old friends.

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Plot Keywords:

oral sex | female frontal nudity | female nudity | lesbian kiss | f rated | 

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Taglines:

They're not little girls anymore

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use, self destructive violence, language and sexuality - all involving young teens

Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Spanish Portuguese

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Thirteen

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$116,260, 24 August 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,599,680, 14 December 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Michael London Productions, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Evan Rachel Wood stated in the 10 year anniversary stream that for a while after the movie had wrapped, she'd find herself coming home from shopping and discover that she had, unintentionally bought very similar clothes to the ones they wore in the movie.

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Goofs

When Evie and Tracy are getting out of the car at Melrose, the same girl in a yellow tank top walks by in each shot. Once when they are still in the car, and once when they are walking away from the car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tracy: Hit me. I'm serious, I can't feel anything, hit me! Again, do it harder! I can't feel anything, this is so awesome!

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Crazy Credits

Hampton, who is credited as having played himself, is the dog.

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Connections

References Like Mike (2002)

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Soundtracks

Humpin' Somethin'
Written and Performed by Javá Benson and Mo-McRae

User Reviews

Annoyingly Redundant

3 out of 10

Out of all the films that have been made about the adolescent experience REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE is still the best. It may have been made in the 1950's but it's issues are as timely as ever. Unlike most other teen movies it tried harder to be honest and wasn't caught up with simply being hype or trendy. It seems like every time someone comes out with the latest 'relevant' teen movie the more irrelevant they actually become. Like with a lot of the others this one is way more smoke than fire.

The main problem with this one is that it is just too much of what you'd expect. One 'shocking' scene is piled up by another with a very tiring regularity. None of it has any impact and it all seems very one dimensional. Just about every imaginable facet of outrageous teen behavior is shown. You feel almost cheated when she doesn't runaway and become a hooker with an abusive pimp. It is all very exploitive, leering, and degrading. Saying that this is simply a 'honest look at todays teens' shouldn't forgive it.

The film may have some validity, but it all seems meshed together in effort to create some seedy paranoid nightmare. It seems to have gotten inspirations from Larry Clarke's excellent docudrama KIDS. This film though fails to be as compelling or as hypnotic. In many ways this films style is very distracting. They seem even more obsessed with the hand held camera than THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

The Hunter character could easily qualify for the worst parent award. She misses all the obvious signs and seems to have no ability to control, punish, or even confront her daughter. She also looks and acts too much like a teenager herself. Maybe this is the point, but still a some more meaty confrontation would have given this thing a little more electricity.

Wood as the star is certainly an up and coming actress. She shows a lot of composure and is all around outstanding. She has a very sweet and delicate face, which makes her transgression all the more jarring. Yet the character she plays is smart and sensitive and who already seemed to have a lot of friends. It seems to be pushing it to think that she would have fallen so completely in with the wrong crowd when she really didn't have too. Reed, who co-wrote the screenplay and plays the new friend with a bad influence, is a much weaker actress and is hardly effective at all.

Overall it is easy to see that this was written by a young novice. The story is aimless and pointless. In the end it amounts to nothing, but a waste of time.