Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

secondtake Blue Car (2002)The story of a teacher (male) having a tryst with a student (female) has been done so many times it's hard to know how this can make it fresh. And as it begins, with the really first rate David Strathairn as the teacher, you begin to believe it will be special. The girl, a talented high school student (Agnes Bruckner), has a troubled home and finds comfort in the teacher's kindness (and his encouragement for her poetry). And so it goes.The few complications to this plot are forced—a troubled sister and her sweetness that goes very bad, and a wife whose own mental issues are thinly portrayed—and so we are left mostly with the simple basics. Girl, man, crossed signals, and then…well, you have to watch to see.Director and writer Karen Moncrieff does a creditable job here. Not sure I've used that word before, and it doesn't speak well of the big picture. Bottom line? There are many better movies about this kind of thing. And yet, it's an enjoyable telling of the story, with Strathairn really solid and likable in a somewhat limited kind of character. Oh, and the poetry? Not bad!

rooprect After seeing Agnes Bruckner's memorable performance in "Rick" (a modern re-imagining of the opera "Rigoletto"), I had to see what else she has starred in. Even better was her performance in this film "Blue Car", a coming-of-age film that boldly crosses boundaries that mainstream Hollywood wouldn't dare touch.I'm not just talking about the scandalous older guy & young girl theme which has been done before ("American Beauty", "Lolita", and almost every Woody Allen movie ever made), but in particular I'm referring to disturbing issues teenagers and kids face today: self-harm, self-mutilation and suicidal thoughts. Don't worry, there's nothing explicit. But the fact that these issues are even presented sets this movie on a different level.Other rare & unheard-of films that touch on these modern teen problems are "Archie's Final Project" (about a high school kid who decides to videotape his last days before killing himself), "Angela" (about 2 young sisters who create a fantasy world of angels & demons to cope with their real life traumas), and the very dark & very creepy "Tideland" about a young girl who creates a nightmarish world around her to try to protect her corroding innocence.. "Blue Car" fits right in there, probably the tamest of the bunch but not without its own hard-hitting moments. I think it would be appreciated by most mid-to-late teenagers whose minds are asking deep questions about life. I'm way past that age, but I still found it compelling and impressive all around. An excellent starring debut by Agnes Bruckner as well as directorial debut from Karen Moncrieff.

bandw There are fine performances in this movie offering us a decent character study. The story revolves around a sensitive young girl, Meg, living in a highly dysfunctional family and the pain she experiences. She turns to an apparently sympathetic English teacher for some stability and encouragement. Every character in the movie comes with great flaws, but in the end all the adults wind up looking pathetically selfish, commanding our disrespect, while the young woman has the pure heart and is forced to be confronted with such awful people. This is one more movie with the theme of adults bad, teenagers good.The teacher serves as more of a psychiatrist than a teacher, at least that is his ruse. The mother seems to be totally oblivious as to what is going on with her children, to the extent that her younger daughter winds up dead due to her negligence. The brother of a friend of Meg's blows in for a few scenes, only to lie, steal everything in sight, and jump parole.The movie is uncomfortable to watch as you are drawn into a web of despair. See if you believe the slightly upbeat ending.

sasamijurai SPOILERMy personal feeling about this movie is summarised in the subject line. Too many bad things happened to this girl (Meg) for it to be realistic, for example, Lily's death was totally pointless. It also would have solved the family's financial trouble for they should have sued for negligence, the psychotic child (any mediocre medical student would have picked up on her delusional preoccupation with angels) was a high risk for suicide- intentional or not and had already been in a psychiatric ward. I cannot imagine how a multi-million dollar settlement could not have followed from this tragic event. See how unreal this film is? Meg leaves home, travels to Florida, where her gentle supportive teacher practically rapes her. It is a pity the pig was not arrested but in real life he would have (hopefully) been exposed, humiliated and promptly put behind bars. There are other points too, but for me - Lily's psychosis and death was the point where the word "kitsch" flashed across my mind.