Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 02/10/2009 Run time: 77 minutes Rating: Nr
Teen angst is amped up by a nuanced performance by a pre-Juno Ellen Page in The Tracey Fragments. "Look, the other day, something happened. I came to certain realizations," says Tracey Berkowitz, played with deadpan heartbreak by Page, huddled on a late-night bus near the beginning of the film. "I can't tell you what or you'll end up like me, on this bus, looking for someone." The scene signals a rocky ride, and the film--a portrait of an outcast Canadian teen struggling with bullies, clueless parents, unrequited love, and her place in the world--is wrenching and challenging. Director Bruce McDonald has taken the "fragments" of the title literally, and so the film is presented in several simultaneous screen shots at a time; rarely in its duration is there simply one scene to watch, as though all the different facets of Tracey are playing out at once. Which, of course, they are.
Tracey is hassled at school, dismissed as an "it" for being flat-chested, and treated as invisible by her parents and even her therapist. Only when something dire happens may have been her responsibility does the rest of the world turn its judgmental focus on her. Tracey begins a quest to leave her old life behind and try to redeem herself--find and honor who she really is--in the process. And the film somewhat brutally takes the reader along for the ride. "How do you know what's real and not real when the whole world is inside your head?" Tracey muses on one of the buses she takes into the night. It's as perfect, and painful, a depiction of adolescence as any film in recent memory. --A.T. Hurley
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Waste of time:
I ordered this movie through netflix... good thing i dont pay per movie!!... this was HORRIBLE! its interesting the way they do the camera, its alot of little boxes of things going on, sometimes they combine together.... but after about 40 mins, it just makes you want to throw up because the camera moves so much. The trailor for this film makes it look outstanding, but in reality, there is no point to the movie. it goes NO WHERE for the entire hour and a half. NOTHING happends, and usually, it wasnt until a... more info
A Multi-picture Loser:
I think the best description I've seen of this movie is that it is like trying to watch a movie in the pieces of a broken mirror. Neither my wife or I liked much about it. There is a lot of teen smoking, sex, violence and incessant use of the 'F-word.' The story of guilt by a sibling for the loss of a younger sibling could have been a great story. However the bad language and the 'cutsiness' of multiple, constantly changing pictures makes it not worth the effort. There are many, much better movies out there... more info
This is a brilliant film, visually captivating and with a magnificent performance from Ellen Page. Perhaps most interesting is how the mood of the film, helped tremendously by the lighting and color choices for the scenes, perfectly captures the feeling of being a teenager caught up in the intertwined mess of school bullying and family dysfunction, thrust into their own head to fantasize about a way out. Maybe it's too stark and bleak for some viewers. To express the trauma that Tracey is dealing with and... more info
What a WASTE of Ellen Page's talent and presence!:
This movie was almost impossible to watch. The already mentioned "multiple split screens", which sometimes numbered around a DOZEN(!!!) make watching this teen angst drama like watching it in numerous rectangular pieces of broken mirror, each with a slightly different time code. ... Ugh! Ellen Page was great in Juno, and she's at least as good here as the material will allow her to be. However, unless you are on LSD when you watch this movie, the format is likely to REALLY annoy and distract from... more info
