Yun Ho
Right after my weekend watching High School Musical, and surf the channels to watch this film really surprises me. Vanessa has always been the actress with sweet smile and sweet character, I was always thought that with her face expression, there is no way for her to step out from that kind of image from the audience. You may think of Spring Break, I know, but her acting and outstanding performance in Gimme Shelter, is totally shocking me. This time, she puts out all of her acting skills and live with this character "Apple". If you are well aware of her works, you will see a different eye in "Apple". Those desire and desperate of her feelings, is something that you can't see in her previous works. (Not to mention her famous HSL, that was total immature) I gave this film a 10 stars ranking, not only because of V's excellent work, I do enjoy the story. Good movies can inspire people to be better and to be kind to other people, I hope you will fell that same.
StevenWicox9
disappointing b/c i had originally thought this was an actual movie & not some sort of religious film w/ the typical set of 1-dimensional troubled minority stock characters & annoying Christian undertone.first off, let's talk acting. vanessa's performance was annoying. sure, she transformed into apple & looked nothing like she's ever had in any other movies (both appearance & mannerism wise), but the way the she talked was just irritating beyond belief. in her defense, the way her character was written was overly dramatic (either mumbling things like 'i don't need your help', 'where was god when -insert traumatic event here-', 'i don't know', etc., or screaming a monologue w/ tons of irrelevant ((to the conversation she is having)) details since the writers didn't feel like taking the time to give us background info about apple in a more...subtle, less rushed way).let's just say apple does a lot of screaming and hitting things... and it's... annoying. she's just so annoying. her fake accent that comes and goes is annoying. the way she literally RUNS away from her problems is annoying. it's very hard to find sympathy for this character. i know that people react differently to different things, but all the overreaction she was doing throughout the film seemed really forced. to be honest her difficult character wouldn't have been so hard to watch if it didn't seem so put on.and oh god it was all so cliché. she would never accept help w/o running away and screaming and her white-savior (deadbeat) father was always like :O whenever she would act up. what the hell is that. who wrote this? this is one of the best examples of people calling a less than average film good b/c of the ~message~. the cinematography was very nice, but i just wish the overall film would have been better.
Amari-Sali
Like most people, when I think of any Disney Princess I think some bubblegum pop image of someone who seems marketable, but certainly isn't a dramatic actress. However, Vanessa Hudgens seemingly is trying to break this trend by taking on more challenging roles. Which, with help from the credible acting talents of James Earl Jones, Rosario Dawson, and Brendan Fraser, the question becomes: Can she be the one to break the mold, or show why hardly anyone takes the women who graduate from Disney seriously?Characters & StoryAgnes (Vanessa Hudgens), also known as Apple, has had a very rough life. Her mother June (Rosario Dawson) is highly abusive, not that truth worthy, and has put her in a mental state where disappointment is expected from everyone. But, even with this mindset of things likely not going to work out, she decides to run away from her mom and seek out her dad Tom (Brandan Fraser). Now, Tom and June seemingly didn't get to know each other well before June got pregnant with Agnes, and you can tell from certain scenes that the two of them were from very different social classes. Tom seems to be from an affluent family, one which he didn't want to disappoint with bringing a kid home, and June, well we can only assume the worse when it comes to her family life.Thus making it understandable why not only did Agnes run to Tom's house, but how Tom reacts when he learns why his daughter ran away: She is pregnant. And with this comes the majority of Agnes' journey as she seeks a way to survive, and keep her baby, all the while dealing with June and learning to trust people enough to allow them to help her.PraiseLet me begin by saying that Vanessa Hudgens certainly does make a case that she is capable of more than most would expect from her. As we have seen over the last few years, she seemingly isn't looking to shatter the image she built, like Miley Cyrus, but more so show she is evolving. For while Spring Breakers certainly could seem like Hudgens trying to destroy that High School Musical image which gave her fame, as I argued in the review, it really made it seem she was capable of more so getting into a character, rather than attempting to rebel against some image. With this movie though, you can continue to see her evolve for it is almost a complete transformation. Not just because she has her hair cut, tattoos, gets cuts, and has the looks of a pregnant woman in the 2nd half of the movie, but because it seems she is really channeling her character and not just playing pretend. What helps her story though is Dawson's character who reminded me of a less developed version of Mo'Nique's character from Precious. She was nasty, a bit broken herself, and helped drive Hudgens performance and perhaps push her toward really getting into character. Then, in the 2nd half of the movie, I must say that seeing Agnes amongst other pregnant teen girls, including the familiar face of Dascha Polanco of Orange is the New Black, really helped push this film through the last hour. For while you don't get to really know any of the girls that well, even to the point of knowing their names, you can see potential stories in each and every one, and you sort of wish the movie began with Agnes there with flashbacks of what lead her to get to the shelter. Overall though, Hudgens is the one who benefits the most, with Dawson being in an excellent supporting role. As for Fraser and Jones, they make good supporting characters who help push the story along, but they didn't do much for me performance wise.CriticismNow, with the aforementioned praise does come the need to admit that the story does feel like it has a checklist in mind. However, being that the film is based off a true story, it is hard to really criticize this. But, as said, the 2nd half in which the girls come in is where the story flourishes, if just because there is consistency. When you first start the film, to about an hour in, I must admit I was bored watching the way the film plays out Agnes' struggle with her father and his new wife. For, frankly, Hudgens seemed to lose her focus and let the character drift until June/ Dawson woke her up from her daze. Which is why I liked the 2nd half so much more and it is because I think with June getting intense, and the rest of the girls competing in a way with Hudgens, she forces herself to step her game up and be consistent in revealing this character and letting you in. While, in the first half, she is given this sympathy story which can feel shallow and forced to the point you really do think the writers had a checklist while doing the script to make sure you felt sorry for Agnes. Overall: TV ViewingIn all honesty, while a likable film, it doesn't hit hard enough to really get you deeply into what goes on. What makes matters a little bit worse is that Hudgens is still growing as an actress, so she is heavily reliant on her supporting actors to keep focused and deliver a quality performance. However, when Dawson or the girls from the shelter are present, you see that Hudgens definitely is getting better, more comfortable, and more confident, as an actress. But, being that she isn't at the point yet where she can stand alone, much less with the first half seeming too formulaic, I decided to rate this as a TV Viewing type film.
