Anchor Bay Films, West of Midnight Productions, Whitewater Films
Hillary Duff, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy, Evan Ross
This is a direct to DVD film. I can see why. It’s not going to compete with the big guys. When I was a kid, I used to collect 45 RPM records. Trouble is, at $.66 each, most were outside my 12 year old budget. But at the Woolworth’s there was a discount bin with 10 records for $1.00 in a box. The only one you could see was a little known song that you had heard of. But once you opened the box and took out the other 9, you found that you never heard of any of the songs or the artists. Ah, but this was 1963’s YouTube. In those collections of unheard junk, were lots of little gems. Songs that didn’t make it, or didn’t get the right promotion, but was a great song. I built up my private collection of these unknown songs, and it was a secret that only I knew. This movie is like the discount bin.
Usually a “direct to video ” is a strong warning to stay away. But this movie wasn’t bad. Hillary Duff is the star, usually a sign to stay away, but she’s not that bad. This film is available on NetFlix “Watch Instantly”. It’s a little bit like an “After School Special”, but it’s clearly PG-13.
This is a teen angst movie, for sure. Greta’s Dad is gone, and Mom is a bit of a flake. Shipped off to Grandma and Grandpa for the summer so Mom can “work on her failing marriage”, Greta comes in with a really bad attitude and gets a lot worse. She meets an ex-con, and the grandfolks are not happy, but maybe he’s just what she needs.
Greta is in a lot of pain and needs all the help she can get to pull through. She’s decided not to live anymore, and someone needs to intervene or she’s going to do it.
Not a wonderful movie, but definitely way above the normal “direct to video” stuff, and definitely worth plopping in the “Instant” queue if you’re interested in the concept.
