Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 05/25/2001(USA
Release Date: 01/14/2003
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Flags: Profanity, Substance Abuse, Watch With Your Teen
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Jim McKay follows up on the critical success of his
Girls Town (1996) with this sensitively-wrought, finely-etched character study of three teenaged girls living in the Crown Heights section of New York City. Though it is summer, the trio find themselves locked in a demanding rehearsal schedule for their prize-winning marching band. Yet this is one of a sundry responsibilities these girls must shoulder. With their parents over-worked, absent, or in jail, they must take care of all household chores and hold down dreary soul-deadening jobs. To make matters worse, their school is closing down for asbestos removal. Yet the most pressing concern for Maria (
Melissa Martinez) is her discovery that she is pregnant, for a second time, after a latex-free tryst with a classmate. She is reluctant to consider an abortion, though the prospect of telling her harried mother seems no less daunting. Her best friend Lanisha (
Kerry Washington) is supportive, but Joy (
Anna Simpson), the third in the trio, cools to Maria, preferring to retreat into a world of fantasy. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.
~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
;)
