Most of the time, movies that end up being mediocre will at least start strong and present a good premise, but fizzle out, lacking a reasonable ending. This movie does it backwards--the first act is a confusing mess, and the best parts are near the end. Joey King is the main character, and she is pretty grating--the lines they give her to try to make her seem jaded and streetwise are just cringe. In fact, I didn't like ANY of the characters. None of them are well written. I didn't quite understand her motivation either--why was she in this situation? I'd say this one is for the teen audience, but it's a little too messed up. Because the main character doesn't seem to take anything seriously, it's like they are making light of sex trafficking, gang wars, racism, and addiction. They main thing I enjoyed is how she got revenge on one of the characters that did something horrible to her. But since none of the comedy works, I don't see any reason to ever recommend it.
Review of Smartass
