Review of Suburban Girl (2007) by Jess W — 11 Jan 2008

The only thing that saves this film are the solid performances by the actors, especially Baldwin. I didn't find anything particularly impressive about the direction or cinematography of the film -- didn't seem like director Marc Klein was striving for anything new or original.

While the separation of the film into "chapters" worked for me, the overall transition sequences between scenes throughout the movie were a bit jarring -- not as smooth as it should have been.

The script came off as a bit pretentious as well -- do you honestly believe that your audience is going to understand all the literary allusions mumbo-jumbo? A few would've been fine, but it was too much.

You're only setting yourself up to exclude more and more of your potential audience. That said, the May-December romance with Gellar and Baldwin proved to work surprisingly well -- it wasn't as gross as I thought it would be because Gellar and Baldwin have great chemistry, as well as the fact that the development of the characters are strong and solid enough to explain why.

But don't be fooled, this movie is NOT a romantic comedy -- it is more of a drama with bits of comedy interspersed -- but it doesn't mean it doesn't have those "aww"-worthy moments that girls would go Ga-Ga for.

Gellar's performance is nuanced and subtle, allowing her to hold her own weight against the charming Baldwin. The music was kind of cheesy too -- something about it just didn't sit well with me.

Overall, it's not a spectacular movie, but a decent one to pass the time with.