Why so much hype?

Pretty Good

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I thought the story line of the movie was OK. I agree the storyline was a bit trite; The way Andrea appears to "outgrow" TOdd at the end and just leaves him I thought was a bit overdone. It makes Andrea a pretty shallow character. I thought the best character was the Tara Reid character. I saw how she could stretch herself a little her when comparing the character she played in American Pie. The underlying theme that each of the characters lived such vastly different lives and yet orbited each other as friends in the same universe was the best part of the film....however I thought the soundtrack was excellent, excellent. I think that is what saved the movie. ANybody know if there is a soundtrack available for this?

the outcome of happiness in this movie really didn't do it for me. The film tried to be a teen movie that deals with issues that a teenager will face in high school. But, the reality, is that this movie says: you're friend might commit suicide, or have massive sexual escapades, but in the end it will all be alright, which is not true. Not only did bad acting bad, but the story lacked in substance as well. I mean, it had potential. If they would had focused on a little more on her relationship with her parents on the subject of her virginity, I would spare the film, but they don't. I might be too realistic, but, no good father (which is what the film set up) would allow his daughter to just go out every night to sleep with some guy she has a crush on, and the fact that he did nothing when he knew was a major point of stupidity on the film-maker's part. But as I said before, the fact that everyone in the movie "needed" the main character so much killed me. Her drugy lesbian friend, Tara Reid (still half true), really made me mad for some reason, oh, now I remember it was that little make out session. Wow. How utterly stupid.

The setup is all too familiar: we have a girl who wonders about life. She has sex, is disappointed in love (always mildly by our measures) and thus "grows up." Its a persistent fiction that is glued into filmdom and god knows how many lives it has bent. But as these go, this one isn't as tendentious as the others. I think that's because of the triple narrative structure.The main narrative is the girl (here Dominique Swain fresh from "Lolita"), who tells us what is going on in her mind. Thhings like "I wish I could grow up." Sometimes her narration is her thoughts in the story rather than over it, such as when she says something polite but is thinking something rude.The second narrative is the story we see of course. Naturally, all the sex is akin to dreamy cuddling.The third narrative is embedded in the story, the narrative of incisive rock songs. Indeed, they are rock songs about the very stuff of the story and inspired by the story itself. The three are woven together, each commenting on the other.Few young viewers will notice, but this is pretty sophisticated storytelling. Even though every thing in it is empty and borrowed, the whole seems much fresher. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Do yourself a favor and read the book before you try to watch this movie. After watching it I felt like they tried to turn this incredible and moving work of fiction into an episode of My So-Called Life. The book this screenplay is loosely based on is so much more powerful than this bland film version. The main character was heinously miscast, she brings no depth to the role whatsoever. You end up being annoyed by her, instead of identifying with her in any meaningful way. And you never find out enough about the supporting cast to understand what's going on with them. In my opinion the entire point of the novel was completely missed. I was terribly disappointed.