Despite
the popularity of reality television singing competitions for the
last two decades, not many movies have taken advantage of the
public’s fascination with them (Sing
and the Pitch
Perfect
series are the only ones that immediately spring to mind). There is
inherent drama in regular folks’ quest to turn their previously
untapped talent into instant fame. Teen
Spirit
mines that idea to decent effect. It is the story of a teenage girl
who enters the titular competition to temporarily escape the monotony
of her life. It is mainly about the impact chasing her dream has on
her, with a very large focus on the music itself. It is an enjoyable
journey with a good pace and strong lead performance.
Teen
Spirit
is the directorial debut of actor Max Minghella. He keeps things
moving at all times, which is a positive for the most part. The story
(which he also wrote) is not particularly original. He makes up for
that by not messing around between plot points, bouncing swiftly from
one to the next, always keeping the spotlight on his protagonist.
There is no chance to get annoyed with the predictability because he
never spends too long on any individual development.
 |
| Everything feels so Refn. |
Where
it was bothersome was in the musical performances. While he does
allow the songs to play, he does not let the viewer just enjoy them.
The majority of them feature constant editing, sometimes to other
moments in the character’s life, sometimes from one camera angle to
another. The result is those sequences come off like a music video.
The strategy makes sense considering the material, though it does not
fit with the style of the rest of Teen
Spirit,
which tends to be much calmer with its camerawork. It is distracting.
It became a challenge to remain engaged in the drama when the movie
refused to stay still during its most important scenes.
However,
Elle Fanning helps it overcome some of that. She plays Violet, a
talented young singer with no clear direction. Fanning is only 21,
yet she has a really interesting filmography full of prestige
pictures, action, comedy, franchises and quirky indies. This is a
glossy drama/musical she is able to infuse with a small amount of
reality. This is a light crowd-pleaser, not a gritty showbiz tale.
What she brings to it is the feeling of actual stakes otherwise
absent from the story. It is easy to root for her, even if you have a
pretty good idea how things are going to end up. She gets
entertaining support from Zlatko Buric as a local who hears her
singing at a bar. He gets a bit of a character arc, but mostly
supplies some needed humor.
Teen
Spirit
is a pleasant experience that never digs any deeper than it
absolutely has to. There are no big revelations or insights into
singing competition shows or the music industry in general. What is
does have is a decent enough story, quality acting and a lot of
music. It may not be the definitive movie on the subject, but it is
mildly fun while it lasts.
-Ben Pivoz
