Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is a movie about some vapid white broads. That chick from some Disney flick was in it. Some people think she's hot; meh, if you like potato chips. Her boyfriend buys some sticks and stems from some lil bite sized vato with a NKOTB ponytail. Next thing you know, Disney chick is trying to earn her merit badge for humping an authentic brown person. One of her lame friends insists she wants to take on three brown wieners at the same time, therefore making her the most coolest girl in their white suburbanite high school. But as it turns out, she tapped out after two. So she runs out of the room crying because her sphincter is irritated. Next thing you know, three poor hombres are getting charged with rape. Moral of this movie? Never trust a succubus white she devil...Oh and that one dude from Training Day was in it. I liked him though. He was cool. That is all.

OK, so the rich-girls-try-to-associate-with-ghetto-people plot line has gotten used in movies before. But some unpleasant stuff happens this time. Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips play Pacific Palisades teenagers Allison and Emily, who are both fascinated by the Latino gangstas in LA. So, they decide to start associating with these Latino gangstas. I mean, it's not as if they'll get in over their heads, right? Understand in advance that "Havoc" isn't "Mean Streets" or "Boyz N the Hood". It's just its own movie (well, maybe a little bit of "Rebel without a Cause" in there). This isn't any kind of masterpiece. I certainly felt a sense of deja vu while watching at least some of the scenes. But even so, director Barbara Kopple - previously a documentary maker - has created a good look at the always tense situation in Southern California. All the cast members do a very good job with their roles, even if the movie isn't the greatest. It's worth seeing maybe once (and not just because of a few specific scenes of Anne Hathaway!). Also starring Shiri Appleby, Freddy Rodriguez (Rico on "Six Feet Under"), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Biehn and Laura San Giacomo.

Let me tell you, after sitting through it, I was going to come here and totally trash it. I was going to call it an abomination of film making, etc. But luckily I decided to see what other people thought and find out a little more about the director/story. I really wasn't sure how to interpret it. I'm glad that I did that, because now I think I get it. This is one of those movies that comes so close to the truth, it should almost be taken as a documentary, rather than a feature film. There is no compelling plot, there is no hero, there is no big story/lesson. This movie reflects real life so well, that it completely fails to give you the feelings you expect a movie to give. Because real life, unlike a movie, is very slow, quiet and subtle. It's like a story you'd hear someone tell about someone else, and the ending, more likely than not, would be that in the end nothing happened, everyone went their separate ways. I would call this movie a valse between the themes of what is real, fake and reality. A lot of the people who give this movie a high rating sympathies with a Latino gang, because they perceive them as real. I think these people miss the point, because while the gang may seem more conscientious of their presence, or more in touch with reality, they are still pieces of crap. I mean, they're drug dealers who sell crack- cocaine! They're real alright, real and evil. And while the little white girl(s) who get(s) good grades and not enough lessons in reality from their parents, that is, why they live in a nice house and gated community, as opposed to say, a crack ghetto? Are just confused, scared, lonely and forced into these situations/realities. They're too naive, young and stupid to know better and with no strong parental involvement (the girl even has a line akin to that in the movie "You're never here!" she yells at her dad) it's not really their fault that they find themselves in these places.Like I said, I was going to give this film a bad rating and a bad review, but realizing just how deep and close it cuts to the truth of the matter, I'm going to give it the best rating there is on this system, because that is what I feel it deserves.

If you've grown up in suburbia, you've known kids who act this way.Before watching the movie I wasn't expecting the turns it took, all in all it was pretty good. Incredibly gratifying to see wiggers and wannabes get mixed in with the real deal. The shallow parents and the shallow teens are fairly true to life, if you're familiar with the Palisades.The film isn't necessarily about teaching lessons or any after school special for sure, Anne Hathaway is not all T n A in this movie like someone else commented, if that's all you remember then you've got problems. Don't get me wrong, there are lessons that can be learned through the character's experience, however it isn't the focus. It's about an experience this main character needed, in order to get out of her Palisades bubble and finally grow up.