Review of Ask Me Anything (2014) by Eric W — 01 Jan 2015

This is a seriously great movie, and in a class by itself. There is no other movie that does quite what it does, or that portrays what it portrays as WELL as what it portrays.

It amazes me that male screenwriter/director/producer Allison Burnett was able to portray a dysfunctional American girl, especially a 17 year old, so effectively. This film could be shown in college psychology courses, and would be singularly informative for that purpose.

I loved the novel it is based upon (Undiscovered Gyrl) as well.

Some movies are in a class by themselves: the only way to learn what they have to say is to watch that exact movie. Ask Me Anything is one of these. The messages contained in this movie have never been expressed this way before, and never so clearly. This is an important film for that reason.

Young pretty girls have a certain power and a recklessness that only appears at specific ages. A girl a few years younger than the protagonist could not have been so ruthlessly sexual. A girl a few years older probably would have been less manic, and more cautious and careful in her behavior. So Burnett has created a unique portrayal of a special time in life that is extremely transient, yet interesting and important.

The film is also a significant portrayal of contemporary culture. It makes a strong statement about youth culture in this country right now.

A lot of films about young girls behaving badly are distinctly voyeuristic. They may be about girls, but they appear to be created for adult males. As a result of this, the portrayal of the girl protagonists tends to be a little thin and flat.

This film avoids this. It gets you inside the head of its fascinating lead character in a way that is extremely uncommon. The film is psychologically deep. You feel that you can really understand the motivations and core desires of the girl. I am a big fan of "coming of age" movies and have watched quite a few of them. I can't think of any other one that is quite as revealing of the inner life of its protagonist. In most of the others, there is a sense of being somewhat "outside" of the inner life of the main character. Her motivations remain more mysterious, in my opinion, in most movies of this type.

There is little of the all-pervasive "male gaze" in this film. There are sex scenes and nudity, but never gratuitous, simply there to titillate the male viewer.

One obvious recent contrast is the 2013 French coming of age film Jeune & Jolie (Young and Beautiful), starring Marine Vacth, about a teenager who becomes a prostitute for no clear reason. I enjoyed this film very much, but it was soft porn to a large extent, and you never really understood exactly why the protagonist was so self- destructive.

With all the sex, and an impossibly hot and compelling-looking lead, Ask Me Anything could have easily ended up being like this. Yet it avoids it, and is probably just as attractive and interesting for females as it is for males. (There is plenty of eye candy for the ladies here, as well.).

The acting is superb. Britt Robertson has to pull off a whole lot of very different emotions, and she clearly has what it takes to do so. The men have to portray a bunch of different male types, including some distinctly creepy ones, and they do a tremendous job. The two nice guys are REALLY nice. Martin Sheen is amazing as an obviously warm, kind, older person. Christian Slater is so obviously dark and creepy that he had my skin crawling when Robertson was making out with him. And Robertson does an astonishing job of exhibiting her extraordinary sexual power. In a scene where she is coming on strong to her employer, in the kitchen, my heart stopped a few times. And I consider myself fairly jaded and not easily manipulated by films this way.

The sets are interesting, and the way they are lit is terrific; very intimate, with lots of depth. Plenty of closeups to create a kind of suffocating effect. The soundtrack is awesome. The songs by unknown girls are moving and appropriate, and the background music works perfectly. The end titles song is especially terrific.

See this movie. You will not be disappointed.