Review of Towelhead (2008) by Christopher G — 19 Oct 2009

The synopsis describes a coming-of-age tale of a Lebanese-American teenager, but that really only scratches the surface. Jasira Maroun (Summer Bishil) moves in with her father in Texas, and has to deal with issues involving her race, ethnicity, and her budding sexuality.

But make no mistake, this movie is about sex. The sexual situations that Jasira finds herself in is actually kind of uncomfortable, given her age. Most films depicting this sort of thing shine a humorous or innocent light on it, but this one shades over toward the dark and perverse. It's a little disturbing.

The writing and acting aren't anything special. Not all of the characters are very realistic, and there aren't any likeable ones until about halfway through the movie. But given all that, the climax is actually pretty interesting. After all the craziness that goes on between the characters, it was nice to see it all come to a head.

I usually like coming-of-age stories, but I can't really recommend this one. However, it's certainly different than the other ones that are out there.