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DVD Picture Day
 Run time: 93 min Rating: 6.4 Genres: Comedy | Drama Director: Kate Melville Writers: Kate Melville Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Spencer Van Wyck, Steven McCarthy |
| Storyline Claire Paxton is a rebellious and independent late teen, her outlook on life which is driven largely by the fact that her single mother is a self absorbed alcoholic. Claire is repeating some of her senior year classes at Toronto’s Arthur Meighen High School in order to graduate, which she decides to do during the school year rather than waste her precious summer doing it in summer school. She has little motivation to attend classes or graduate. Her school year is affected largely by her encounters with two males with who she ends up spending much of her time. The first is Jim, the thirty-something front man for the funk band, the ElastoCitizens, with who she embarks on a sexual relationship. The second is Henry, a ninth grade student who she used to babysit. Henry is an exceptional student, but is at a stage in his life where he too is starting quietly to rebel against his straight-laced upbringing. Claire acts as his mentor in his coming of age, which may change if she knew that … Written by Huggo |
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| Plot Keywords: high school, student, slacker, underachiever, slut | |
| Details: Country: Canada Release Date: 7 April 2014 (UK) |
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4 comments
This movie's great. The ending is a little abrupt, but there are so many good moments which are reminiscent of Freaks & Geeks, even better if only in the ability to capture teenage life/adolescence in all its awkwardness, relationship dynamics, etc. especially for those of us who didn't really "belong" or fit in re high school life. It's not something you often find in films these days. It's funny, touching even; there are some great moments in this. Music fits in perfectly with some scenes.
The actress, Tatiana Maslany is incredible in this and really does make the movie. Truly a freaking impressive performance.
Now here's an insightful little teen film that gets the angst of coming- of-age without having to resort to the same old clichés. "Picture Day" from promising first-time filmmaker Kate Melville is a sensitive portrayal concerning a couple of teens going about the daily grind.
The reckless, wannabe rebel Claire (Tatiana Maslany), forced to attend an extra year of high school, befriends the socially awkward Henry; a boy she used to babysit years earlier. Claire is unaware of their history at first, but Henry isn't, and in fact has never abandoned his long standing, secretly obsessive crush.
"Picture Day" is well written and unpredictable, but it is the terrific work of Maslany (a revelation on TV's "Orphan Black") that makes the film succeed. She's a quirky, natural performer and at 28 somehow plays a high schooler with utter conviction. Her character is flawed, brash, but realistically drawn and we root and sympathize with her. Melville rests a lot on Maslany's performance to great results.
The plot goes some places that don't really work, and some scenes are in need of a good trimming, but this is never the less a rarity in the teen genre; one that favors character development, leisurely pacing, and no easy answers.
This is smart, good-natured indie fare with a terrific performance at it's center. It's imperfect sure, but memorable and well worth seeking out.
Tatiana Maslany of 'Orphan Black' stars as Claire Paxton, a rebellious teen forced to repeat her senior year of high school. She is look down upon as a school outsider with a questionable reputation. She becomes a friend, mentor, and an object of desire to Henry who is also a quiet outsider she used to babysit as a child. On the other hand, she is sexually involved with Jim, the 30-something front man for the funk band, the ElastoCitizens.
This is a coming of age story not just for Henry but also for Claire. They're both amazing in this great little indie movie, but Tatiana is the one that breaks out as a true movie star. She is both magnetic and vulnerable in this role.
"Picture Day" stars Tatiana Maslany as Claire, a girl who's described as being caught in between adolescence and adulthood. But that's only accurate if adulthood is actually an immature state of being where teenagers are snarky and rude because they think they're cool and smarter than everybody else. She's smack dab in the middle of adolescence no matter how mature she might think she is.
During Claire's last year of high school – again, she meets two guys. Jim is legally an adult, thereby making him older and wiser. He also represents the sex, drugs and rock & roll stage of "adulthood". Henry is younger than Claire, but also mature, studious and observant. He's also more sheltered and needs someone to show him the harsh realities of coming of age.
The coming of age parallels within in this film are apparent and abundant. Claire's stuck between adolescence and adulthood and is repeating her last year of high school – as if she's unable to know when she needs to grow up. She's also torn between two guys, representing the high school and adult worlds she's torn between. And then within the guys themselves, the older one is more immature and less adapted to the adult-world and has no need for Claire himself. While the younger one can provide Claire with the stability she needs and has the maturity to approach adolescence like an adult.
The problem is all those parallels are represented within the premise, once you actually start watching the movie, there's nothing left to discover. "Think these ideas are smart? Good, because that's all we've got."
Worse is that the characters themselves don't provide any reasons to keep watching. Claire is rude, insolent and immature, and doesn't deserve our sympathy or even our attention. Jim is a walking, talking stereotype that is even more annoying than that sounds. Henry is a decent character, and since that should solve her boy-related dilemma, the only dilemma that's left is why we're still watching.