Havoc (2005) The Shadow of Sixteen Candles., 16 June 2006
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
A lot of people seem not to have enjoyed this film very much. I'm not sure why. Yes, the rich girls seemed phony but lots of teenage girls sound similar in their speech. It comes across as so stylized as to be stilted, yet it's a genuine parole. It's the way some people speak in real life.
The acting wasn't that bad either. The only major flaw in the story is that Ann Hathaway didn't take her clothes off more often. Just kidding. I've never seen her in any of the Disney epics so was deprived of the enjoyment of having any pedophilic fantasies fulfilled. She's the best looking of the bunch, in a conventional way, and she handles the part like a pro.
The story, alas, is the weakest part of the film. It isn't just that the rich kids are stereotypically bored. I imagine boredom among the very rich can be a serious problem. When you have everything material that you need, it's hard to glom onto a goal other than momentary pleasure. And it isn't just that the Latinos we see are a horde of overmuscled greaseballs who feel only contempt for the "white girls" and who sell dope and whose bodies are adorned with elaborate tattoos.
It's that the dialog doesn't always ring true. Some Pachuco punk who has gang banged her and her friend comes up with something like, "Who are you? You not real. Not REALLY real. You a fake." And so on. The guy sounds like he's studied with Fritz Perls.
And yet the movie is an attempt to answer an interesting question and perhaps only a happily middle-class female director could have handled it this well. The question is: What is it about lower-class men that attracts upper-class women? In my experience black men have far more of this mojo than Latinos, but okay. The attraction extends to gangstas in prison, even those who will never be released. Are such men perceived by such women as imbued with some feral sexual power? Are women driven to them by impulses like those that put men behind the wheels of racing cars? Is it self-testing? Is there an adrenalin rush involved in seeing if a rogue male can be brought under rein, like a wild stallion? I don't know. I'm just asking. I'm not aware of any professional research on the subject but it's a fascinating one.
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
A lot of people seem not to have enjoyed this film very much. I'm not sure why. Yes, the rich girls seemed phony but lots of teenage girls sound similar in their speech. It comes across as so stylized as to be stilted, yet it's a genuine parole. It's the way some people speak in real life.
The acting wasn't that bad either. The only major flaw in the story is that Ann Hathaway didn't take her clothes off more often. Just kidding. I've never seen her in any of the Disney epics so was deprived of the enjoyment of having any pedophilic fantasies fulfilled. She's the best looking of the bunch, in a conventional way, and she handles the part like a pro.
The story, alas, is the weakest part of the film. It isn't just that the rich kids are stereotypically bored. I imagine boredom among the very rich can be a serious problem. When you have everything material that you need, it's hard to glom onto a goal other than momentary pleasure. And it isn't just that the Latinos we see are a horde of overmuscled greaseballs who feel only contempt for the "white girls" and who sell dope and whose bodies are adorned with elaborate tattoos.
It's that the dialog doesn't always ring true. Some Pachuco punk who has gang banged her and her friend comes up with something like, "Who are you? You not real. Not REALLY real. You a fake." And so on. The guy sounds like he's studied with Fritz Perls.
And yet the movie is an attempt to answer an interesting question and perhaps only a happily middle-class female director could have handled it this well. The question is: What is it about lower-class men that attracts upper-class women? In my experience black men have far more of this mojo than Latinos, but okay. The attraction extends to gangstas in prison, even those who will never be released. Are such men perceived by such women as imbued with some feral sexual power? Are women driven to them by impulses like those that put men behind the wheels of racing cars? Is it self-testing? Is there an adrenalin rush involved in seeing if a rogue male can be brought under rein, like a wild stallion? I don't know. I'm just asking. I'm not aware of any professional research on the subject but it's a fascinating one.