Review of Still Green (2009) by Phillip M — 12 Jun 2011

A lot of people haven't heard of this movie. I don't mean to say that in a hipster way, I say it because there are reasons no one has heard of this film. First, it's so indie that it didn't get much exposure, and second, it's bad. Normally, I wouldn't call a movie bad, I'd only say that in my opinion it was bad. However, this is just plain bad.

We have a group of friends spending their last moments together before they each head off their separate ways to college. They spend a few nights in a beach house doing normal teenager things. Until, one day, a horrible accident occurs.

Really, that's all I can remember from watching Still Green. I also remember how poorly directed, scripted and acted the movie is, and how many things in the movie that just didn't add up.

Still Green tries to create drama, throwing in the archetypal teen characters--the depressed one, the free-spirited one, the asshole, the slut, etc., but all that really adds up to is a boring movie. The interactions between all the characters are portrayed in such unrealistic ways and the stilted acting and unbelievably bad dialog that the actors are given don't help one bit.

The main point of this movie is about growing up, and losing your innocence. And to get those points across, a movie usually needs to stir up some action/drama. Still Green tries so hard to do this, which makes it difficult to watch because we know that they're actually trying to do something. And some of the actors (maybe just 2 actually) are willing to put their all into it--though it's definitely not enough.

There is one major plot hole in the movie, which is basically the end of the film. And one completely confusing and unnecessary occurrence in the final act as well, though it is hilarious to watch due to it being so ridiculously timed and the consequences surrounding the teens.

What this movie really feels like, is a student project. Something that someone would whip up in high school. The choice of music is so "teenage angsty" and the way it's filmed, it's almost as if this was a terribly rough draft of what the actual movie would be, though I doubt that film would be any greater.

To be honest, this could have been a good movie. Aside from completely rewriting the film and recasting everyone, remove a couple of the characters, and give more of the prominent characters more screen time. The circumstances that the characters are in are reasonably believable, it's only that the story unfolds in a way that makes it want to be profound, not to simply be profound and connect with people without forcing it.

I give this movie a 2/10, there is an effort that's being put into it, but all of the separate parts of the movie (acting, writing, directing, etc.) are not up to par with better coming-of-age-stories.