I rooted for Caterina as she discovers herself and the world around her, but it is a world full of one-dimensional people. All the secondary characters in this film--with the exception of Caterina's neighbor, Edward, who appears too briefly--show only one side of themselves. Her father rants and raves throughout, except for his period of deep depression, where he does nothing at all. Her mother is meek and clueless. Her friends are either spoiled brats or angry rebels. I found them all to be insufferable, and the movie suffered for it. Both we and Caterina deserved better.
("Mean Girls" covers some of the same ground as this film, minus the politics, and does it much better.)
("Mean Girls" covers some of the same ground as this film, minus the politics, and does it much better.)