Teen Spirit review – Disjointed movie lacks spirit

Teen Spirit borrows many of its ideas from the current reality TV rage of discovering hidden talent, be it in music, dance or a man showing card tricks.

Actor Max Minghella’s directorial debut covers familiar territory, without injecting freshness into his subject.

Underdeveloped characters fail to enhance a narrative that is far too predictable in its execution, with the director’s lack of experience a telling factor.

High points, though, are the quality of the pop soundtrack which threads its way through the production and Elle Fanning’s portrayal of a meek 17-year-old Polish farm girl named Violet, living on the Isle of Wight.

Teen Spirit. Picture: LD Entertainment / Bleecker Street

She is a talented individual with a passion for music, which is squandered in her rural community. When a singing competition, called Teen Spirit, opens auditions in her town, Violet is finally given the opportunity to shine.

The film follows Violet’s journey into the sordid world of music. Her only companion and so-called manager is a fellow Pole, an alcoholic ex-opera singer named Vlad (Zlatko Buric).

He is grossly overweight, in dire need of a haircut and a shave. He carries a lot of emotional baggage.

Rebecca Hall plays the slick record company executive dangling a lucrative contract under Violet’s nose.

Violet must choose whether to sign with her company and just become another name on their roster, or to simply allow the kindly Vlad to guide her with her best interests in mind.

Teen Spirit. Picture: LD Entertainment / Bleecker Street

As a whole, Teen Spirit is not well constructed. It’s little more than a series of music videos coupled together with montage sequences. It is also disjointed to a degree where it’s unnecessarily hyperactive at times.

Elle Fanning produces a commanding performance, but it is not enough to save Teen Spirit.

Info

Rating:
Cast: Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric, Agnieszka Grochowska, Rebecca Hall
Director: Max Minghella
Classification: 10-12 PG

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