Review of Ask Me Anything (2014) by Yael D — 21 May 2017

So what is it that works about Ask Me Anything? At first glance, Burnett's work (admirably based on a novel he wrote, an example of cinematic transition I would much prefer), is fairly straightforward, although well executed.

Fucked up teenage girl engages in edgy, modern coming of age drama, exploring her sexuality with a trio of poorly suited men that she both uses and is used by due to her own struggles. It's a career jumpstart for Robertson (or at least, should have been, but we'll get to that), who awkwardly bounces around Burnett's online, blog infested world with an innocent vigor that forced me to Google her age twice (she was at least 23 at the time of the film).

She struggles with lines at times but like a number of other promising young actresses, she has a lot of charm and a lot of screen presence, which she uses incredibly effectively. With my other new favorite, Haley Lu Richardson, it's the eyes.

With Robertson, it's a bouncy demeanor that infects scenes with an energy that seems to connect her with other cast members even when her lines don't always hit like they should. She's joined by capable Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, and Robert Patrick performances, as they basically play themselves to great effect.

Ultimately however, it's a pretty typical, if well executed, Perks of Being a Wallflower meets 13 Reasons Why meets The Girlfriend Experience type story. Robertson's character is traumatized, deals with it through sex, grows up in the process, and learns a bunch of life lessons all while blogging and doing the millennial thing throughout.

But Burnett has an undertone to this work that only comes out in the final twist and the film's production has its own interesting undertones that give Ask Me Anything a real life in the subtext. At the end of the film, spoilers ahead, Robertson's character disappears, her mother reveals through her final blog post, without a trace, having left with her unborn child apparently, with her three potential fathers and bookstore mentor none the wiser.

It's a shocking mystery that the film provides no answers to other then to suggest that Robertson's life of sex and allure, although fraught with trauma, was largely an online product, designed as a blog fantasy to disguise a normal girl sleeping with a video store clerk.

It's a meta-critique of online anonymity and the feeling that provides and the mystery the films leaves with and refuses to answer begs even more questions. We first wonder if Robertson is a victim, of a jilted lover, of a mysterious blog reader, of some random street interaction as part of her tough life.

But then the even more meta-thought creeps in, the idea that the ending is a lie as well, a manufacturing designed to help Robertson's character detach from her online following by disowning her creation and faking her own disappearance online while her movie character or some other character entirely goes on living.

It's a layered mindfuck, the kind of trippy shit that usually gets slotted for non-linear Terrence Malick films at Cannes but instead gets casually interjected into the end of an episode of Gossip Girl meets Law and Order.

Best or worst of all, depending on how you enjoy conclusions, the movie really refuses to give you anything more. The book isn't any better from what I understand. In a world of perfectly concluded endings, Ask Me Anything is the jazz of this genre, it has no resolution, it's open ended, for anyone to engage in.

On one hand, that makes you wish this was some sort of artsy Oscar bait but on the other hand, you can see that Burnett wanted the entire film to feel like Robertson's blog viewers. By the end, we are entertained.

We feel bad for her character but her antics and her exploits have us hooked. Then Burnett smacks us upside the head with the meta-twist and we're left to contemplate how we just became what the movie was critiquing.

It will fuck with you. The other aspect to this subtext is that Ask Me Anything died on impact. No fanfare, no press. One mainstream review from the LA Times. The reason for this is that someone, either Disney or Robertson's jealous boyfriend (or an agent behind the scenes working through either) advised her to disown the film and reorient her image towards her slate of family friendly big budget children's films, namely her horribly miscast role in Tomorrowland.

The result was disastrous for everyone. Tomorrowland was panned and a financial disaster, with Robertson's performance lost in the noise while Ask Me Anything had no lead actress for press junkets, leading to a complete cancellation of all promotional activity.

The result was that the film slipped into the water with barely a splash and Robertson's career has continued to lack definition. It makes for more fascinating subtext for this already fascinating case study of a film but considering the fiercely independent nature of Ask Me Anything's main character, that's a sadly ironic ending for an indie film that deserved a whole lot better.