Gretchen - SkinnyFest 2
| 14 Aug 2006
Gretchen, written and directed by Steve Collins.
Set in a typical nowheresville town in the US, Gretchen tells the coming-of-age story of a somewhat creepy and awkward teenager. Not the sharpest tool in the box, Gretchen has an insatiable appetite for undesirable young reprobates with bad hair. This unhealthy penchant for juvenile delinquents leads her, during the course of the film, towards the source of her obsession - by way of the Shady Acres Centre for Emotional Growth and Crystal Shortcake, a well-observed small town rave, complete with second rate DJ and spaced-out hippy throwbacks. As the reason for her fixation emerges the plot develops into a bitter sweet study of the human condition. Unfortunately, while its opening scenes show promise, the film begins to flail by the middle. Although there are frequently moments of charm, humour and originality, it suffers from lax editing and an over-sufficiency of pregnant pauses. The cinematography is inventive and the performances, occasionally guilty of hamming it up, are generally adept. Unlike Napoleon Dynamite, to which this film owes a significant debt, it feels slightly laboured, lacking the subtlety and slickness of its forerunner. Gretchen has much to recommend it, yet like its heroine, it comes across as rather awkward and a bit desperate.
Set in a typical nowheresville town in the US, Gretchen tells the coming-of-age story of a somewhat creepy and awkward teenager. Not the sharpest tool in the box, Gretchen has an insatiable appetite for undesirable young reprobates with bad hair. This unhealthy penchant for juvenile delinquents leads her, during the course of the film, towards the source of her obsession - by way of the Shady Acres Centre for Emotional Growth and Crystal Shortcake, a well-observed small town rave, complete with second rate DJ and spaced-out hippy throwbacks. As the reason for her fixation emerges the plot develops into a bitter sweet study of the human condition. Unfortunately, while its opening scenes show promise, the film begins to flail by the middle. Although there are frequently moments of charm, humour and originality, it suffers from lax editing and an over-sufficiency of pregnant pauses. The cinematography is inventive and the performances, occasionally guilty of hamming it up, are generally adept. Unlike Napoleon Dynamite, to which this film owes a significant debt, it feels slightly laboured, lacking the subtlety and slickness of its forerunner. Gretchen has much to recommend it, yet like its heroine, it comes across as rather awkward and a bit desperate.
SAT 19 AUG 19:45 Cineworld £7.45 (£5.20 concs)
MON 21 AUG 21:45 Cineworld £7.45 (£5.20 concs)
MON 21 AUG 21:45 Cineworld £7.45 (£5.20 concs)