This movie is visually strong, suspenseful and extremely entertaining but the way in which it depicts family tensions is its greatest achievement. A teenage girl's relationship with a young man from the wrong side of the tracks soon sparks off numerous problems that are down to her father's over-protective instincts and the girl's natural rebelliousness but the dramatic possibilities are then heightened even further due to the specific dynamics that exist within the girl's reconstituted family.
Nicole Walker (Reese Witherspoon) is the naïve 16-year-old who, after previously living with her mother, moves into her father's suburban home in Seattle. Steven's (William Petersen) an overworked architect who lives with his second wife Laura (Amy Brenneman) and her young son Toby (Christopher Gray). When Nicole and her high school classmate Margo Masse (Alyssa Milano) go to a local rave, Nicole meets David McCall (Mark Wahlberg) and is instantly attracted to him. He's exceptionally polite, softly spoken and seems very gentle and considerate. David instantly makes a positive impression on Laura and Toby when he visits their home but Steven instinctively takes a dislike to him. This naturally creates a rift between him and Nicole and makes her even more determined to continue the relationship.
Things suddenly change one day when David sees Nicole hugging her school friend Gary (Todd Caldecott) and is overcome with jealousy and rage. In a sudden and violent outburst, he brutally attacks Gary and roughly pushes Nicole to the ground. After the attack, Nicole is left with a black eye and immediately stops seeing David. This incident reinforces Steven's negative feelings towards David but it isn't long before Nicole surprisingly rekindles the relationship. Steven is incensed and angrily forbids David from seeing his daughter again. David, however, is totally obsessed with Nicole and as his fury grows, the revenge he takes on the Walker family becomes progressively more violent until his actions eventually lead to a terrifying conclusion.
The ways in which conflict grows between the generations is shown very effectively in this drama because, whilst it's natural for parents to want to protect their children from pain, exploitation or bad experiences, it's also entirely natural for teenagers to want to explore life in the way that their instincts dictate and not be given advice which they just regard as being interfering by parents who want to spoil their fun. The tensions in the Walker family are also complicated by the step-parents' desire to be accepted by their adopted children and also the uncertainty that children can feel about a parent's new spouse.
Reese Witherspoon does a great job of portraying the mixture of naivety and growing maturity that's typical of a 16-year-old and Mark Wahlberg is particularly good in the scenes that require him to express his anger. William Petersen provides the other standout performance as the father who's left frazzled by being overworked, having to contend with his concerns about his daughter and trying to cope with his wife's unreasonable attitude to his work commitments. Overall, this is a movie which provides some pertinent observations on family life in the 1990s in a story that's perfectly paced and delivered in a style that's never dull.
Nicole Walker (Reese Witherspoon) is the naïve 16-year-old who, after previously living with her mother, moves into her father's suburban home in Seattle. Steven's (William Petersen) an overworked architect who lives with his second wife Laura (Amy Brenneman) and her young son Toby (Christopher Gray). When Nicole and her high school classmate Margo Masse (Alyssa Milano) go to a local rave, Nicole meets David McCall (Mark Wahlberg) and is instantly attracted to him. He's exceptionally polite, softly spoken and seems very gentle and considerate. David instantly makes a positive impression on Laura and Toby when he visits their home but Steven instinctively takes a dislike to him. This naturally creates a rift between him and Nicole and makes her even more determined to continue the relationship.
Things suddenly change one day when David sees Nicole hugging her school friend Gary (Todd Caldecott) and is overcome with jealousy and rage. In a sudden and violent outburst, he brutally attacks Gary and roughly pushes Nicole to the ground. After the attack, Nicole is left with a black eye and immediately stops seeing David. This incident reinforces Steven's negative feelings towards David but it isn't long before Nicole surprisingly rekindles the relationship. Steven is incensed and angrily forbids David from seeing his daughter again. David, however, is totally obsessed with Nicole and as his fury grows, the revenge he takes on the Walker family becomes progressively more violent until his actions eventually lead to a terrifying conclusion.
The ways in which conflict grows between the generations is shown very effectively in this drama because, whilst it's natural for parents to want to protect their children from pain, exploitation or bad experiences, it's also entirely natural for teenagers to want to explore life in the way that their instincts dictate and not be given advice which they just regard as being interfering by parents who want to spoil their fun. The tensions in the Walker family are also complicated by the step-parents' desire to be accepted by their adopted children and also the uncertainty that children can feel about a parent's new spouse.
Reese Witherspoon does a great job of portraying the mixture of naivety and growing maturity that's typical of a 16-year-old and Mark Wahlberg is particularly good in the scenes that require him to express his anger. William Petersen provides the other standout performance as the father who's left frazzled by being overworked, having to contend with his concerns about his daughter and trying to cope with his wife's unreasonable attitude to his work commitments. Overall, this is a movie which provides some pertinent observations on family life in the 1990s in a story that's perfectly paced and delivered in a style that's never dull.