Meet Jessica Burns (Lexi Ainsworth). Hmmmm … what do we know here? Well, she’s young and has a friend and — wait, she’s committing suicide. You couldn’t let us learn a single thing about this teen before you have her down a bottle of pills? I’m not wild about that choice, subject or direction.
The understanding of bullying in our culture has, in turn, led to a rash of anti-bully movies. And, geez, I’m sorry; I guess that’s a spoiler – you see, A Girl Like Her takes forever while dancing around the “why did Jessica try to kill herself?” issue. Writer/Director Amy S. Weber hinted at the trouble, of course – fellow classmates all kinda shrugged and nodded towards the head mean girl, Avery Keller (Hunter King). Guessing at the source, the camera asks Avery if she wouldn’t mind being documented on film. Hence, the following dynamic emerges where we know next to nothing about the girl who lies in a coma after downing pills, but we learn all about the Rachel McAdams wannabe.
A Girl Like Her is shot in documentary form, complete with unseen-person-behind-camera gently requesting participation from the subjects. This style has the benefit of accepting lesser performances from the actors and camera crew. If the acting is shoddy or deliberately self-conscious, you chalk it up to being “real.” On the other hand, making a scripted movie look like a documentary is cheap.
It takes a while for the dance music to stop and the film to start. When it does, A Girl Like Her is about as subtle as root canal. Amy S. Weber wanted us to know a lot that vindictive bullying happens; it especially hap
pens with girls, and the ultimate source is likely the parental examples. Weber is cruel in her depiction of cowed husband (Jon W. Martin) and type A+ mother (Christy Engle). One particularly well-directed home scene shows the mother ripping into the father while Avery films. When her brother (Gino Borri) calls Avery’s voyeurism into question, she turns and rips into him in extremely similar fashion. There it is – example set, example learned, example followed. The juxtaposition is eerie.
The bully genre is better intentioned than most. Documentaries like Bully and Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine need us to know that this shit ain’t cool. I’m not sure they’re great films, but they are a nice counter to standard fare; so many films we see, especially action films, tend to root for the bully. One need not look further than Zero Dark Thirty or every Liam Neeson film to find the opinion that lawfulness and kindness are for suckers. Is bullying, like a lack of humility or a pathological need for violence, an American trait? This film never comes close to that question; a better one will.
Hey Jessica, I see you there cryin’
Tell me, who is it that’s been so unkind
Wait! We just started
Now you departed
In a coma before I finished this li–
Rated PG-13, 94 Minutes
D: Amy S. Weber
W: Amy S. Weber
Genre: Hey, everybody, let’s stop bullying!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Victims
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Bullies
