give me a break

I thought the same thing!

Okay...everybody relax.

First of all, this is not about reading the taglines and descriptions of the film. To be quite honest, the plot description is what interested me in this film. I was interested to see how this kind of subject matter was going to be handled by the director and I think that is what disappointed me (and a number of other posters) when I watched it.

What we have here is a plot with a lot of potential but the execution was all wrong. Rather than emphasize the massive reprecussions (moral and otherwise) that Shirley's actions bring about, the director chose to shape it as if it were just about as innocent and forgetful as an 18 year-old having her first summer fling. All of the morally reprehensible actions in this film (from the creation of the prostitution ring to the vandalism of the high-school) are treated as harmless acts that everyone should experience once in their lives. The director emphasizes this with some-fast paced editing and upbeat, energetic music.

I kept waiting for one of the characters (either one of the girls or one of the married men) to be the sole voice of reason and say "No. This is wrong." The only one who came close was Brenda, but overall, the director envelops us in a world where nearly EVERYONE is morally bankrupt. He even has Mike applauding the fact that his son cursed out his teacher.

Normally, I would have no problem with the fact this kind of behavior is addressed in a film, but the director does not even show us what kind of emotional damage that all of these actions have caused. As we see Mike living happily ever after, we can assume that he never had the character to tell his wife what he did. And the so-called twist at the end for Shirley does not make enough of an impact to right all of the wrongs the director made along the way. In order for this film to have had any kinds of redemptives qualities, the last third of it needed to be devoted to the emotional suffering of all of the characters involved. And no, I don't think the director was trying to make a social commentary that ALL of society is morally corrupt. If that was the message he was trying to get across, then there were too many sequences that were played for comical appeal when they should have been played more dramatically.

Whether or not they are social realities, at the end of the day this film treats underage sex, prostitution, avarice and a general irreverence for any basic moral code as no big deal. There are a number of foreign films (e.g. "Student Services," and "Come Undone") that deal with similar subject matters far more effectively.