Review of This Girl's Life (2004) by Timothy S — 31 May 2012

At first, "This Girl's Life" struck me as a cold and pretentious drama, and it turned me off right from the start. But then, I started to get involved in the story, mostly because of the very likable and charismatic performance of newcomer Juliette Marquis. The entire house of cards that is this movie is placed squarely on her untested shoulders, and while I can't quite recommend this, she's the only reason I warmed up to this at all.

She's completely stunning with a body to match that she isn't at all shy about showing off, but she's also a natural in front of the camera. She puts a lot of her won natural charm into this underdeveloped character and makes her worth watching. Unfortunately, everything else in the picture is forgettable and phony. I felt sorry for James Woods who seems to have fallen from grace here playing Marquis' Parkinson's affected father. I thought it was a pretty embarrassing performance, despite the fact that the film consulted an expert in the field of the disease and it's endorsed by the Michael J. Fox foundation. In my book, Woods still comes off as phony.

Several other performances also left a bad taste in my mouth, such as Michael Rapaport as a sleazy car dealer, and Ioan Gruffudd as a potential adulterer. The writer/director goes by the name Ash (did I mention I first found the film to be pretentious?) seems to be going more for shock value than any real filmmaking talent.

"This Girl's Life" isn't nearly shocking enough for that strategy to be successful. It's a mixed bag with a strong central character.