Thirteen is an “Afterschool Special” in an R-rated outfit. Initially the ads put me off, but then I read that Evan Rachel Wood was in it and did a little investigating.
The most interesting thing about Thirteen is that it was written by Nicki Reed, a 13-year-old, who co-stars in the movie. The characters and the dialog are raw and real, projecting the pressures of modern, urban adolescence. Like most children, Tracy is turning into her mother unknowingly. Her most rebellious acts, her most dangerous attempts to define her individuality take her down the same murky road her mother is trying to climb back out from Like her mother, Tracy is at the mercy of freeloaders she mistakes for friends and attempts to numb her pain and self-loathing by losing herself in her addictions. And like so many mothers of this generations, Melanie is unable to control or discipline Tracy, because she is unable to control or discipline her own child within. Melanie is too close to the remembered humiliations and slights of her own adolescence to do anything but empathize.
The most distracting thing about Thirteen is the film color. The film has a ghastly bluish tint much of the time, jitters into black and white, seems sometimes in color. I know the effect is to make it look raw and real, too–amateurish and immediate, not a big Hollywood production. But it doesn’t really work. The camerawork and film-editing are great otherwise.
Watch the trailer.
Update: December 7, 2003
An intelligent interview with Evan Rachel Wood in today’s Guardian.
i thought the movie was wicked and i want to c another like it so bad and that i am so fuckin jealous of nikki reed
i luv u
luv u guys always ang
the movie rox!! ive seen it like 100 times and i only rented it 4rm the library lol!!
nikki n evan RULE!!!!!!!! WHOA
luv ya guys
luv Faye x
i love this movie because its not about preppy barbie’s that you usally see in movies today it actually has some meaning i love it its the best movie ever i can never ever get tired of it i cant belive a 13-year-old wrote it!!!
lyl toodles $@rA
hey i really liked this movie a lot!!
lol i can never get enough of it lol
i can relate to evie a lot i really
wanna buy this movie but i checked
wal-mart and they only have Vhs and
there is no way in hell that im buyin
it in Vhs its too good for that i need
it in DvD lol im gonna keep checkin lol
cuz its my fav movie of all time
I love this movie because its so realistic. All parents should see this movie and be aware that this can and will happen. I myself was thirteen when i saw the film and it was very real! ITS THE BEST MOVIE EVER!WATHC IT!
from Karissa
This movie rox!!!
I like it cauze it seems way more real then some other movies i seen!!! I hope there’s a second movie!!!!!
U SHOULD WATCH IT!!!
I love this movie it is the best fucking movie I have ever seen it is so real!.I love it so much i browed it from a friend and never gave it back.. nikki and evan are so gorgues it’s unbelivab;e I hope there is a thirteen 2 just to see hoe evie and tracys lives are now!
OMg this movie is the best movei ever made…my mom showed it to me…b i thought it would suck..now i cant get enough of it..i love it…personally i think its the best..n its soo real…shit like that actually happens in every one goes through it..i hope ppl made more movies like this…its not something u see every day
i lov tha movies i wish there is a nother movie just like it made i lov it i hav seen it like 1million times n i still watch it there lifes are like mine n mi friends xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo MAKE ANOTHER MOVIE JUST LIKE IT!!!!!!
i will have to say this movie really touched me. when i first watched it i though the film was about me and my best m8, so i used 2 watch it alot. one day i was watching it and i thought to myself “sammy are u plain stupid, the characters may b just like u but look what happens at the end” so i stopped doing drugs, stopped shop lifting. tried helping my mum out. went to the doctors about self harm so i was given anti ds. so basically that movie has helped me sort my life out a bit. 🙂