Given its non-Hollywood ending and its nuanced treatment of caricatures as characters and vice-versa, Terry Zwigoff's picture is to be commended. Thora Birch's exudes pain cemented in the icy irony of a high school senior, and her courtship with the refreshingly laconic Steve Buscemi may be one of the more compelling near-love stories of recent film history. And a celebration of oddballs that does not over-sentimentalize is also an achievement. That said, Zwigoff's pacing is often glacial, and the picture loses traction on more than one occasion.
Still, a good picture, and certainly one of the more intimate ones of this year.
Grade: B.
