Thirteen
Came out; 2003
Time; 1 hours 40 Minutes
Watched: Netflix
Rated: R for drug use, self-destructive violence, language and sexuality-all involving teens
IMDB Rating; 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes:
Tomato Meter 81%
Popcorn Meter 77%
Caution; Spoiler Alert
Staring;
Evan Rachel Wood as Tracy Freeland
Holly Hunter as Melanie Freeland
Nikki Reed as Evie Zamora
Vanessa Hudgens as Noel
Brady Corbet as Mason Freeland
Jeremy Sisto as Brady
Story Line;
At the edge of adolescence, Tracy is a smart straight-A student--if not a little naive (it seems...she smokes and she cuts to alleviate the emotional pain she suffers from having a broken home and hating her mom's boyfriend, Brady.) When she befriends Evie, the most popular and beautiful girl in school, Evie leads Tracy down a path of sex, drugs and petty crime (like stealing money from purses and from stores). As Tracy transforms herself and her identity, her world becomes a boiling, emotional cauldron fueled by new tensions between her and her mother--as well as, teachers and old friends.
Thoughts:
I see this movie mentioned in articles on “controversial” movies; it puts it in the category of Kids. I don't think it belongs there. To me, this is just a movie about teenage girls, there's really nothing different about it
I find Evan Rachel Woods Tracy to be very winy and not at all likable and Nikki Reed's Evie to be the instigator
CAUTION; Spoiler Alert
The
movie starts out with a girl named Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) and Evee
(Nikki Reed) getting high off a can of hairspray. They both can't
feel their faces and slap each other until they are both
bloody.
Four months
earlier.
13-year-old Tracy Freeland begins her school year as
a smart and sweet honor student at a middle school in Los Angeles.
Her divorced mother Melanie (Holly Hunter) is a recovering alcoholic,
who struggles to support Tracy and her older brother Mason (Brady
Corbet) by working as a hairdresser. Tracy feels ignored by her
mother, who is too busy with her fellow ex-addict boyfriend Brady
(Jeremy Sisto) to address Tracy's increasing depression. After being
teased for her "Cabbage Patch" clothes, Tracy decides to
shed her 'little girl' image and gets her mother to purchase trendier
clothes.
When Tracy wears one of her new outfits to school,
she is complimented by Evie Zamora, one of the most popular girls at
school. Evie invites Tracy to go shopping on Melrose Avenue in
Hollywood but gives her a fake phone number as a prank. Nevertheless,
Tracy determinedly shows up on Melrose Avenue and meets up with Evie
and her friend Astrid. Tracy is uncomfortable with the two
shoplifting and excuses herself to sit outside the store on a
bench.
When a distracted rich woman sits next to Tracy, Tracy
takes the chance to steal the woman's wallet, which impresses Evie
and Astrid. The three go on a shopping spree with the stolen money
and Tracy and Evie become fast friends. Evie introduces Tracy to her
world of sex, drugs, and criminal activity, much to Tracy's delight.
When Evie tells Melanie that her legal guardian/cousin Brooke (Debra
Kara Unger) sent her an email, about going to a convention in
Bakersfield for two weeks, she temporarily moves into the Freeland
household and discovers that Tracy regularly cuts herself to cope
with stress. The two promise to stay friends forever and continue
with their self destructive exploits. Although Melanie is concerned
about the change in Tracy's behavior and worries about the extent of
Evie's influence, she cannot find a way to intervene. Melanie
attempts to send Evie home but Evie claims her guardian's boyfriend
is physically abusive. A torn Melanie reluctantly agrees to let her
stay. As Tracy and Evie become closer, Tracy shuts Melanie further
out of her life.
Both Evie and Tracy get increasingly out of
control, each egging the other on. The pair attempt to seduce Tracy's
neighbor Luke (Kip Pardue), a lifeguard in his early twenties, and
ditch a family movie night to get high on the streets. Mason is
shocked when he bumps into Tracy wearing sexualized clothing,
including thong underwear, but Tracy dismisses his concerns. Later
on, the girls take turns inhaling from a can of gas duster for
computers for fun and become so intoxicated that they hit each other,
accidentally drawing blood.
Melanie attempts to break the
girl's friendship by sending Tracy to live with her father but he
refuses. Meanwhile, Melanie goes over to Brooke's house, with Tracy
and Evie, to find out what is going on, because she's been calling
Brooke for two weeks. They find that Brooke was hiding because of bad
plastic surgery she received. Evie asks Melanie to formally adopt her
but Melanie refuses. Tracy meekly supports her mother's decision.
Angry and hurt, a tearful Evie storms off.
At school, Evie
turns all her friends against Tracy and, depressed, Tracy slowly
begins to realize the negative effects of her lifestyle when she is
told she might have to repeat the seventh grade. To her surprise,
Brady finds her walking home from school and takes her home where
Melanie, Evie, and Brooke are sitting quietly in the living room
waiting for her.
Brooke confronts Tracy about her drug use and
stealing, having been convinced that Tracy was the bad influence by
Evie. Outraged, Tracy insists that Evie was the instigator to
everything, but the skeptic Brooke refuses to listen and announces
that she is moving with Evie to Ojai to keep her away from Tracy.
Melanie defends Tracy's innocence but then Brooke pulls Tracy's
sleeve up to show Melanie Tracy's self-harm scars, showing that Tracy
was troubled long before she ever met Evie. After a screaming match,
Brooke and Evie leave. Tracy weeps in Melanie's arms and attempts to
fight against her mother's love, but Melanie embraces her and insists
that she loves Tracy regardless. Tracy tearfully pleads with Melanie
to let go, with no success. The two fall asleep on Tracy's bed.
The
last scene shows a dream sequence of Tracy spinning alone and
screaming on a park merry-go-round during the daytime (which is a
symbol of Tracy regaining her childhood).
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