Sunday, September 30, 2012

Loving Annabelle (2006)


IMDb plot summary: Annabelle is the wise-beyond-her-years newcomer to an exclusive Catholic girls school. Having been expelled from her first two schools she's bound to stir some trouble. Sparks fly between her and her teacher, Simone Bradley. Annabelle pursues Simone relentlessly until Simone must make a choice between following her heart and doing what's right. 
Directed by Katherine Brooks. Stars Erin Kelly and Diane Gaidry.

I was pretty thoroughly unimpressed with this movie. I have no idea what it was trying to accomplish. Its plot reads like a thinly veiled excuse to show lots of lesbian sex, except there wasn't that much sex when it came right down to it. It could have been an attempt at a coming-of-age story, except the teenage character really never came of age or learned anything. It could have been a character study, except that characterization was never developed. It could have been a drama about forbidden/taboo love, except that the forbidenness of it is, oddly, never really discussed. It could have been a poignant LGBT movie, except for the fact that it painted all the lesbians in the story as sex-crazed and vaguely predatory for no particular reason. In short, it feels like a movie that was trying to go so many directions that it never made it to any of its goals. This script needed a bunch more rewrites. 1 star.

Best Part: Collins was an awesome character. Why did she pretty much never do anything?
Worst Part: How nobody seemed to ever address the fact that a teacher/high school student relationship is NOT OKAY. The fact that they are both female changes nothing.
Flickchart: #1442, below Johnny Tremain and above Mamma Mia!

No comments: