`AMY' HAS IT ALL OVER `ALL OVER ME'.Byline: Janet Maslin The New York Times ``All Over Me,'' a confident first feature directed by Alex Sichel and written by her sister Sylvia, observes the teen-age angst of best girlfriends being driven apart by stirrings of sexual identity. Big, ungainly Claude (Alison Folland) must deal with the attraction she feels for Ellen (Tara Subkoff), a druggy drug·gy 1 Slang adj. drug·gi·er, drug·gi·est Of or relating to drugs or drug use: "boozy, druggy confessions" Vincent Canby. flirt who also has a boyfriend vying for her affections. The boyfriend (Cole Hauser) is a benighted be·night·ed adj. 1. Overtaken by night or darkness. 2. Being in a state of moral or intellectual darkness; unenlightened. be·night macho type, but the story also gives Claude a cool new gay neighbor (Pat Briggs, lead singer of the band Psychotica) in whom she confides. New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood is the gritty backdrop for the story, in which Claude works at a pizza restaurant and Rollerblades home to the apartment she shares with her pathetically man-crazy mother. The neighborhood is also an excuse for giving the otherwise pierced-navel-gazing film the added momentum of a violent crime. When the Sichels' film surfaced at the Sundance Film Festival in January, it prompted considerable grumbling about tongue-tied stories of adolescence, even though this one happens to be conspicuously well made. Myopic teen-age characters communicating at the ``duh'' and ``whatever'' level have limited magic, and Claude's nascent lesbianism lesbianism: see homosexuality. lesbianism also called sapphism or female homosexuality, the quality or state of intense emotional and usually erotic attraction of a woman to another woman. provides only a vague dramatic focus. Beyond its sensitive evocation of troubled friendship, the film doesn't have much more in mind. It's certainly possible to make a smart, knowing film about role-playing and shifting sexual orientation - ``Chasing Amy,'' for instance - but ``All Over Me'' is content to drift and mumble 1. mumble - Said when the correct response is too complicated to enunciate, or the speaker has not thought it out. Often prefaces a longer answer, or indicates a general reluctance to get into a long discussion. . A desultory tone, a truckload of attitude and the presence of Patti Smith as this film's patron saint only heighten the impression of more style than substance. Alex Sichel does make that style matter in the film's expressive lighting, its rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. diffidence dif·fi·dence n. The quality or state of being diffident; timidity or shyness. Noun 1. diffidence - lack of self-confidence self-distrust, self-doubt and its sharp sense of place. THE FACTS The film: ``All Over Me'' (R; profanity Irreverence towards sacred things; particularly, an irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of God. Vulgar, irreverent, or coarse language. The use of certain profane or obscene language on the radio or television is a federal offense, but in other situations, profanity , drugs and brief, discreet sexual situations). The stars: Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser, Pat Briggs, Wilson Cruz and Leisha Hailey. Behind the scenes: Directed by Alex Sichel. Written by Sylvia Sichel. Produced by Dolly Hall. Released by Fine Line Features. Running time: One hour, 30 minutes. Playing: Laemmle's Sunset 5. Our rating: Two Stars. |
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