GIRLS TOWN (1996) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia RATING: Three stars and a half
"Girls Town" was released in about one or two theatres during the fall of 1996. What a shame that smaller, independent films never get anywhere and do not get the promotional push they deserve. "Girls Town" won a series of awards for screenwriting at the Sundance Film Festival, and the push the film spotlights is a ball-of-fire performance by Lili Taylor, the former independent queen of film.
"Girls Town" is the day-in-the-life of four young women in a small, suburban section of New York (or is it New Jersey? It was filmed in both states.) who are trying to get through high-school amid all their worries, aggravations and heartaches. Nikki (Aunjanue Ellis) is the most troubled of the group - she inexplicably kills herself. The others, Patti (Lili Taylor), Angela (Bruklin Harris), and Emma (Anna Grace) try to cope with her death and, consequently, confront their own lives and where it may lead them. In a perfectly written scene, the threesome argue and then begin to really talk about themselves after discovering that Nikki was raped in the past. Why can't they talk to each other about what they are going through? Their problems? Their fears? And, more importantly, why couldn't Nikki?
After enduring a moment of truth, the triad become a posse, and they stake out any man who walks in their path. They nearly destroy a hotshot macho guy's car by skewering it with keys and breaking the windows with cement blocks - the scene is both exhilarating and frighteningly funny because it shows how far teenage girls will go to get even. To demonstrate their good deed, they write about it in the girls' bathroom.
It is easy to dismiss "Girls Town" in how it negates macho male stereotypes and shows them as nothing more than abusive, rotten rapists. The movie's special trick is that it doesn't sermonize or preach about how young women are treated today, it skimps over it and blatantly avoids making an issue out of it. The beauty of the film is that not all the males are abusive - there is a park cleaner (Michael Imperioli) who makes lewd comments towards Patti, but then he is sweet to her and apologizes.
"Girls Town" is raw, funny and brilliantly alive with some harrowing scenes of rage balanced with wonderfully observant moments of truth and humor. A courageous, low-budget film shot in ten days in New Jersey, it benefits greatly from an inspired, bold performance by Lili Taylor as Patti, and the appealing Anna Grace and Bruklin Harris as Emma and Angela, respectively. You won't look at inner-city teenage girls the same way again.
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