Review of The Tracey Fragments (2007) by Ed M — 12 Oct 2009

I hate you, Tracey Berkowitz. Not saying I hate the movie, I'm just saying that Tracey was a whiny girl who needs to grow up. And since I feel that way, I'm guessing that Ellen Page did a great job with her character.

The interesting part that I think a lot of people miss is that we are watching the entire movie from her point of view. Nothing we see is going on the way that we would actually see it. For example, when people are screaming at her, or constantly making fun of her for her small boobs, it either didn't happen or exaggerated.

In the beginning, and later on, she admits that she's just a typical teenage girl. My take on it was that she was highly self conscious and didn't know how to handle the world. Her arguments with her parents were ridiculous.

In their words, they care about her and are looking out for her, but the way that it's handled seems like they can't stand her. There is a great theory I read about Sonny: he is just Tracey as a child.

This makes sense, but at the same time we see her parents interact with Sonny. It would have been a better metaphor if only she interacted with him. If there is no metaphor behind Sonny, then I feel like he was just a vehicle for the plot, and an unnecessary one at that.

The visual style was interesting. At times I liked the fragments, and others I did not. I understand the importance of the amount, but I wouldn't have lasted if this was more than 77 minutes long.

Plus, the running scenes were poorly done. The camera got so shaky you couldn't see a thing. I also didn't like Tracey talking into the camera while she was on the bus. Some things just didn't really add up.

I'm really not sure if there is a moral to the story, or if it was just an experiment in putting a new twist on the coming of age tale. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I'd give it a 3/5.