Review of Towelhead (2008) by Michael M — 11 Jul 2013

This movie is incredibly fierce. Though the title implies that this movie is about racial prejudice and the difficulties of growing up Lebanese in Texas (at the start of the first Iraq War), the movie focuses much more on the girl's burgeoning sexuality.

13-year-old Jasira is shipped off to live with her father when her mother thinks she's interfering with her new boyfriend, and she then has to get accustomed to her father's rigid, repressed attitudes towards women, stemming from his Lebanese background.

The movie is very in-your-face with the sexual awakening that Jasira is facing, and at parts it is very difficult to watch. Aaron Eckhart plays the Army-reservist neighbor who is a little too interested in Jasira, and he does a great job in a despicable role.

There are very few redeeming characters in this movie - mainly Jasira's other neighbors Toni Collette and Matt Letscher. While there are some scenes of comedy, it is on the darker side, and overall this is a hard movie to sit through.

I think it's worth your while, as long as you know what you're getting into.