The Tracey Fragments (2007)

15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is naked under a shower curtain at the back of a bus, looking for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he's a dog.

Director:

Bruce McDonald

Writers:

Maureen Medved, Maureen Medved (novel)

Stars:

Ellen Page, Zie Souwand, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos

6 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ellen Page	...	Tracey Berkowitz
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos	...	Lance (as Max McCabe - Lokos)
Ari Cohen	...	Mr. Berkowitz
Erin McMurtry	...	Mrs. Berkowitz
Zie Souwand	...	Sonny Berkowitz
Stephen Amell	...	Detective
Leonard Dunbar	...	Laughing Man
Chris Ratz	...	Donut Shop Cashier
Daniel Fathers	...	Elegant Pimp Daddy
Ryan Cooley	...	David Goldberg
Jeffrey Bornstein	...	The Boy With Curious Hair
Jackie Brown	...	Mrs. Dorchester the Teacher
Kate Todd	...	That Knockout Bitch Debbie Dodge
Slim Twig	...	Billy Zero
Julian Richings	...	Dr. Heker

Storyline

Tracey Berkowitz, 15, a self-described normal girl, loses her 9-year old brother, Sonny. In flashbacks and fragments, we meet her overbearing parents and the sweet, clueless Sonny. We watch Tracey navigate high school, friendless, picked on and teased. She develops a thing for Billy Zero, a new student, imagining he's her boyfriend. We see the day she loses Sonny and we watch her try to find him. In bits and pieces, we see what leads up to her riding in the back of a city bus wrapped in a shower curtain. Coming of age, or just surviving?

---

Plot Keywords:

dysfunctional family | bus | shower curtain | curtain | high school | 

---

Taglines:

Something's Missing...

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language throughout, some sexual content and violence

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 2008 (Greece)

Also Known As:

Tracey

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 750,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$17,220 (Canada), 11 November 2007, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,002, 11 May 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$31,576, 18 May 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shadow Shows, Téléfilm Canada, Corvid Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Maureen Medved was writing the novel The Tracey Fragments is based on, she kept a newspaper clipping of Ellen Page over her desk as inspiration for Tracey.

---

Quotes

Tracey Berkowitz: It really isn't my fault. I absolutely had to run away. Like, my Dad, he's always saying that I exaggerate. You know? He's always like, 'Tracey, I don't know what to believe and what not to believe.' But how do you know what's real and what's not when the whole world is inside your head?

---

Alternate Versions

Numerous alternate versions of this film exist, as the raw footage was posted to the Internet under free Creative Commons license for anyone to re-edit as they saw fit. The filmmakers chose a few winning re-cuts for inclusion on this film's official DVD.

---

Connections

References Finding Forrester (2000)

---

Soundtracks

Don't Wanna Be Your Man
Performed by FemBots
Written by Brian Portier and Dave Mackinnon (SOCAN)
Copyright Junkshop Productions Inc.

User Reviews

77 minutes is the perfect length for this experimental film

Tracey Fragments is a very experimental film. 95% of the film is shot with two or more screens. Sometimes it's even split up as much as 100 screens! Not often do you see a film where there is more art in the editing than anything else in the film. In fact, some of the split screens act as shattered glass which seemed to be the symbolic meaning of the film where a girl's life is pretty much shattered throughout the film.

Tracey Berkowitz (played by Ellen page) is a fifteen year old girl who thought it would be funny to hypnotize her brother into being a dog. She hates her parents and her school mates. She dreams of starting a rock band with the boy of her dreams, Billy Zero. Very independent, she decides to run away from home to look for her brother. there she has her day from hell.

The first thing I'd like to comment about the film is I thought the script lacked. Ellen Page made this movie watchable but I disliked some of the scenes. In fact, some parts were so ridiculous it almost made me laugh nervously as if they were trying to make the movie corny at times. With that said, I'd have to say that Bruce McDonald did a very good job capturing Tracey with the budget that he had. It's obvious that the film was shot with a hand-held camera but it fit very well with the dark behavior and life that Tracey endured throughout the movie. I also loved the score. I read on one of the message boards for this movie that some replied that they loved and hated this movie. I agree. Some parts were so beautifully captured while some seems completely lacked and didn't fit (once again, the lacking script). The movie is exhausting at times but the last thirty minutes began to pick up again and make the movie interesting.

Ellen Page is a versatile actress and I like her a lot more when she plays darker roles such as this movie and her best performance to date, Hard Candy. I did love Juno but I like these type of roles more. The most memorial seen in the movie is when she stares her mom down and points her finger in her face while screaming at her. It's almost freaky but so well done.

If you love Ellen Page, this movie and Mouth to Mouth need to be seen with an open mind. 77 minutes of this film could feel like two hours.

My verdict 6.25/10