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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 21031
Released: October 14, 2003 |
| Our Price: $2.15 |
| Used Price: $2.15 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Six students lie dead at the hands of a fellow classmate. In the aftermath an unlikely bond is about to form. Alicia (Busy Philipps "Dawson's Creek") is a Goth misfit who hates the world and everyone in it and may know more about the shooting than she's telling. Deanna (Erika Christensen Swimfan) one of the injured is a classic overachiever confined to a hospital bed. Brought together by fate united by secrets they couldn't be less alike or need each other more.System Requirements:Running Time: 132 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396018952 Manufacturer No: 01895
Home Room Reviews:
Underrated 
2008-09-16 - A very underrated and well acted piece. Skip Gus Van Sant's crappy Elephant and watch a real movie. Screw the contrived art film and watch a REAL movie.
home room 
2007-01-06 - like that it show the aftermath of the shooting and how the studtens deal with the shock and drama of the events that have unfoleded.
Everyone has a story . . .
2006-03-06 - Of the 1200+ movies I've watched in the last two years dealing with children or teens, this one has to come somewhere in the top ten. We've had over 150 kids stay with us for varying lengths of time, and this movie reminded me of a discipline technique we used. If two kids were fighting, we'd put them on chairs with their knees a few inches apart. Then, they had to sit there and talk nicely to each other for a specified time. No matter how angry they were to start, in the end they'd be laughing and getting along.
Alica and Deanna were put in a similar situation. Both girls were hurting inside, one from the effects of the classroom shooting and the other from another psychologically tragic event. This movie is about how each girl had to first start to trust the other, then grow to understand each other. Of course, at first much is left hidden inside, but gradually they begin to talk and each begins to understand how the other is hurting. The more the viewer learns, the more he or she begins to care for even Alica, who escapes in a "Goth" world that alienates more typical teens.
As the two girls slowly reveal more and more of their stories, stories of hurting, they begin to heal. However, it is a very painful process, with many setbacks and misunderstandings along the way. But, that is the way emotional healing is. This is a very realistic cinematic depiction of psychological healing.
Finally, it is very refreshing to see a teen, Deanna, concerned with her character and values. For families concerned with traditional values, this is one of the best examples of that I've seen in a teen movie. Although curious about sex, Deanna still felt it was worthwhile to protect her virginity. The movie is rated R mostly for the language, but Deanna even called Alicia on that. She let Alicia know that she didn't not approve of the foul language or 'taking the Lord's name in vain." However, she was not perfect in this either - when she thought the detective had emotionally hurt Alicia she cussed a bit. Also, when Alicia, more because she was a rebel than a lesbian, kissed Deanna, Deanna recoiled in revulsion. Again, she showed concern for her reputation and traditional morality.
If you genuinely care about people as they are and not how you want them to be, what one would call empathy, then this is 131 minutes of very well-spent time.
great movie!!
2006-02-26 - I caught this movie on OnDemand thanks to my sis and I watched it and LOVED it!!! I am not a huge fan of erika christensen . . . but she does a decent job in this movie. It has some "unexpected" plot lines and I ended up crying in the end!
I bought it because i liked it so much!!
Incredible chemistry between the two actresses!
2006-01-09 - Alicia and Deanna have the same homeroom and it seems probably did nothing more than exchange glances every morning. Alicia(the goth girl) knew nothing about Deanna but she was one of these beautiful, rich, intelligent white girls that all of the teachers adored! Deanna knew nothing about Alicia but she was "in a world to herself" and she respected that. I will point out from a personal observation that Alicia has some of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen!
Alicia goes to Deaana's hospital room to make their principal happy....they hardly do anything but exchange pleasantries.
Yet, Alicia keeps coming back day-after-day to this room. Alicia persuades Deanna to go outside for walks, talk about life and to quit feeling sorry for herself over the shootings.
To me, the most "moving" scene is when Alicia has spent the night with Alicia in her room. Deanna takes the remote from Alicia's hand and then opens her fingerless gloves to try one on after being told "no". The looks of both girls(without the other one knowing about the other) is incredible yet not a single word is ever said between them during this scene.
The "survivors" of the homeroom shooting come together several months later for "closure". Alicia's performance in here(which changes the lives of everyone in there forever) could have easily won her an Oscar!
To answer a previous post, I think Alicia cries at the end after receiving her diploma because nobody in the whole world(including herself) ever thought she could have done it!
