Teen drama ‘Thirteen’ raw, full of sharp insights

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In theaters

THIRTEEN, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, 95 minutes, rated R.

Oh, to be 13 again. Wasn’t it great? Certainly it was for some, but those people either were aliens or they won the lottery of life. For the rest of us, the shift into adolescence could be trying, to say the least.

With your hormones raging, the peer pressure building, your body changing, the cliques forming – and you stuck in the middle of it – somehow it seemed as if at 13, everyone had you figured out but you. Eventually, as an adult, you see your old schoolmates for what they were. But when you’re living it, as 13-year-old Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is in Catherine Hardwicke’s bleak drama “Thirteen,” what you sometimes feel is the shame of not belonging, the humiliation that accompanies being shunned, the embarrassment of being you.

To her core, Tracy feels all of that, so much so that she’s willing to do anything to break free from it. In the process, she loses who she was: a sweet, studious girl from a broken home whose undoing was to meet and befriend the wrong person.

The film, which Hardwicke co-wrote with her co-star, Nikki Reed, literally begins with a slap across the face.

Tracy and her best friend, Evie (Reed), are sitting on Tracy’s bed, huffing fumes from an aerosol can, so stoned out of their minds that they can’t feel themselves, which is the point. In a chorus of “Hit me harders,” they swing freely at each other, bludgeoning their faces with their closed fists in a cloud of escalating laughter.

From here, the movie cuts to an extended flashback, chronicling how Tracy came to know Evie, the hottest, most popular girl at Tracy’s school.

Soon, in spite of her single mother’s (Holly Hunter) guarded consent, Tracy is dressing just as provocatively as Evie, who takes Tracy under her wing and develops the sort of relationship every parent dreads.

Indeed Evie, whose own home life also is no prize, encourages Tracy to try drugs, to smoke and to drink, to pierce her tongue and navel, to steal, and to participate, among other things, in group sex. Soon, Tracy’s already shaky family is falling apart because of it, with the increasingly lost and confused seventh-grader slowly self-destructing as a result.

Beyond the performances, which are raw and convincing, with Wood and Hunter both deservedly scoring Golden Globe nominations, what’s startling and dead-on about “Thirteen” is how quickly and easily Tracy assumes the role of budding sex goddess, how her rage and isolation help to morph her into her idea of an adult and the dangerous yet tantalizing freedom she finds in defying her mother while embracing her surging sexuality.

Of course, there are consequences to such freedom and Hardwicke unleashes them upon Tracy with the skill of a director who has unusually sharp insights into her situation, which of course she does. In real life, Nikki Reed is Hardwicke’s stepdaughter, on whose life “Thirteen” is based. If the film feels exploitative because of that, the truth and power Hardwicke mines nevertheless serves as the defining balance.

Grade: A-

On video and DVD

SPELLBOUND, directed by Jeff Blitz, 95 minutes, rated G.

Jeff Blitz’s Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Spellbound,” follows the lives of eight students from different corners of the country, all of whom won their regional spelling bees and now are about to launch into the final event that binds them: the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

If the idea of watching a movie about teens competing in the mother of all spelling bees sounds dull, then know that the execution of that idea is far from dull.

It is, in fact, often exhilarating and suspenseful, an insightful glimpse into the kind of preparation, drive and backbone it takes not just to master the roots of the English language – which is tough enough – but also to appear in front of a live audience on national television while a panel of judges dish out the sort of words that might send even the most gifted wordsmiths into exile.

Winning a spot at the competition is an achievement, to be sure, but some might question at what cost. Through the collection of mini-biographies that opens the film, Blitz introduces us to the kids willing to pay the price.

They come from a wide cross-section of socioeconomic, racial and cultural backgrounds. All are standouts, but some resonate more than others.

There’s Angela, the daughter of Mexican immigrants whose parents look upon Angela in awe at what she’s able to do with a language they themselves don’t fully understand. There’s Ashley, a fresh face from one of D.C.’s toughest neighborhoods whose mother wonders aloud whether Ashley’s relatives will be able to watch her from their televisions in prison. And there’s the hyperactive Harry, the joker of the bunch, whose rubbery face becomes a carnival of worry and despair as the movie unfolds and the pressure builds.

For some people, realizing their first major, public accomplishment comes from throwing a touchdown, getting on base or finishing a marathon. But for these kids, correctly spelling words like “Darjeeling” and “palimpsest” prove the early zenith of their young lives.

Like any athlete – and these kids are orthographical athletes – they’ve paid their dues through hard work, dedication and training. It’s impossible not to root for all of them. What’s special about “Spellbound” – and what’s ultimately so gratifying about the movie – is that these kids, bonded by their uniqueness, also find it impossible not to stand up and cheer for each other.

Grade: A

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Alex & Emma ? D+

Anything Else ? B+

Bad Boys II ? C-

Bend it Like Beckham ? A-

Bruce Almighty ? B+

Cabin Fever ? C+

Finding Nemo ? B+

Freaky Friday ? A-

Freddy vs. Jason ? D-

Gigli ? D+

Holes ? B+

Hollywood Homicide ? D-

How to Deal ? C-

The In-Laws ? C

The Italian Job ? A-

Johnny English ? D+

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life ? B

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ? C-

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde ? C+

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ? A-

Man on the Train ? A-

The Matrix Reloaded ? A-

Nowhere in Africa ? A

Once Upon a Time in Mexico ? B-

Open Range ? B+

Out of Time ? B

The Order ? D

Pirates of the Caribbean ? A-

Real Women Have Curves ? A-

Santa Clause 2 ? C-

Seabiscuit ? C

Shanghai Knights ? B

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ? B-

S.W.A.T. ? B-

Swimming Pool ? B+

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ? B

2 Fast 2 Furious ? C-

28 Days Later ? B+

Underworld ? D

View from the Top ? C+

Winged Migration ? A

X2: X-Men United ? A-