'Thirteen' portrays dark, artistic view of teen life

Two beautiful and innocent-looking seventh grade girls inhale toxic fumes as they slap one another across the face in an orgy of masochism. So begins production designer-turned director Catherine Hardwicke's ("Laurel Canyon" and "Vanilla Sky") latest and certainly greatest filmic triumph. A disturbing look into family breakdown and teenage corruption, "Thirteen" is certain to make any college student think twice about dreams of one day having children.

In a breakout first leading role, actress Evan Rachel Wood ("S1m0ne" and "Practical Magic") plays Tracy, a well-intentioned seventh grade girl trying to cope with the pressures of her life at home and school. Her mother, Melanie (Oscar winner Holly Hunter of "The Piano"), chases after a handsome but drug-addled Brady (Jeremy Sisto of "Clueless") and runs a hair salon in her home long after divorcing her well-off husband.

Ridiculed at school for her childishness and tormented at home by the shadow of her father, Tracy tries to fit in with the cool crowd led by bitch goddess Evie Isadora (Nikki Reed). As Evie traps Tracy in her web of drugs, sex and deception, Tracy becomes masochistic and suicidal, throwing her life and family into utter disarray. The film ends tragically, but a faint glimmer of possible redemption to come remains.

Tracy's descent into decadence is as painful as it is powerful. Careful, if at sometimes jolting, cinematography combined with a uniquely stylized soundtrack build powerful suspense throughout the movie. The film tastefully achieves maximum psychological effect with a minimum of visual extravagance and blood. For example, Tracy's suicide attempts are all the more incisive because we are spared excessive bleeding, so the blood smears on her sweater and the drop of blood that hits the floor are all the more hard-hitting.

Wood and Reed give extremely nuanced performances for their age, and the screenwriting gives a portrait of middle school that rings far truer than most films treating adolescent life. Those who spent their early adolescent years in the less pristine of America's suburban public schools are likely to find "Thirteen" an uneasy reminder of those constantly confusing years.

But this hard-hitting cautionary tale confronts a stage of child development too often neglected and increasingly being investigated by social scientists and public policy makers: the early teenage and late pre-teenage years. The "terrible two's" are the bane of many parents' existences, but the terrible thirteen's exact a far higher emotional toll and require far more careful and devoted parenting.

The film is not perfect, however. Most importantly, for the entertainment seeker, "Thirteen" holds little value at all; its dark and depressing vision, as well as its guilt-provoking sexual tone, can ruin a good Saturday night. While this is hardly an artistic critique, it is an important thing for anyone considering a night at the Garden Theaters to keep in mind.

Also, the cinematography, while beautifully artistic, is jarring and possibly even nauseating to the tender of stomach. More deeply, Tracy's initial fall into corruption is too fast and unexplained; other points used to develop the story early, as well, smack of deus ex machina. Another flaw in the screenwriting is found in the development of Evie's character. Here deceit and cruel intentions are clear, but unlike Tracy, the history motivating her is underdeveloped.

But despite these small imperfections, the film is extremely impressive both in scope and emotional depth, especially considering the circumstances of its production. Hunter makes her first appearance since "The Piano" with that Academy Award winning performance's emotional power. None of the other actors in the film have any well-regarding credits before this.

The co-writers are the neophytes to screenwriting Reed and Hardwicke, and the latter presents a tour-de-force given her status as a first time director. At the young age of 16, Reed has the potential to bloom into a great actress, but, more importantly, a brilliant screenwriter. Watch out for this creative crew in the future; they seem sure to impress.

Any prospective or current parent should go see "Thirteen" to give his or her self a cold and hard dose of the darkest side of pre and early-teenage reality in today's world. Artistically made, written and acted, it more than succeeds in accomplishing what it set out to; nonetheless, it is a downer, to say the least. However, the film is well worth the emotional cost, as well as the $6 that you'll pay as a student to see it at 6:45 p.m. or 9:15 p.m. at the Garden Theaters.

Rating: 4 out of 5 paws.