Girls Against Boys (2013)

This little independent movie has a lot going for it. A believable story line with realistic characters and situations, a strong and truthful story that is directed with care.Danielle Panabaker does a spectacular job of creating a very believable victim of rape, Shae, who, with her new friend and work colleague Lulu, subtly portrayed by Nicole LaLiberte, take fatal action on her attackers.Yes, this has been done numerous times, the last big budget version being The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster. Though what this story gives you is the more nitty-gritty feel of real life. Shae is an ordinary woman trying to make her way through life, she attends college and works a bar part-time. There's a wonderful scene where she asks a colleague to take over for her and she walks away to catch five minutes as she's having a bad day. Panabaker's walk behind the bar and in front of the bar speaks volumes of Shae's tiredness, dejectedness, and all over weariness of her life at this point. Nicely acted and well directed.While in the stairway she meets Lulu and they strike up a conversation. When Lulu hears about Shae's day she decides to take her to a nightclub to take her mind off things. At the end of the night, they go back to an apartment shared by a couple of men they met at the club. Shae, worn out, chooses to go home. Tyler, who paired off with Shea offers to be a gentleman and escort her home. However, he doesn't take being rejected at the door to her apartment building and resolves to get what he think he deserves.What I like about this film is the lack of graphic violence, most of the time the director Austin Chick, who also wrote the story, chooses to cut away. This allows the viewer imagination to take over because we're not stupid we know what's going on, there's no need to depict it.From here on Lulu takes over and becomes the dominant character in the newly formed duo. She takes Shae to the police to report the crime, though they find them indifferent and unconcerned about the crime or the victim. It's Lulu who decides on the course of action to take and she's the one to start the ball rolling. Shae, still traumatised by the incident wonders around in a fugue most of the time. It's Shae's state of shock which makes this a more plausible tale of revenge.The resulting conclusion is pretty inevitable.This is a slow, well thought out psychological thriller, which gives a breath of fresh air to a much-used storyline.This isn't a pleasant film to watch. You don't really root for the victim to have her revenge, as the story isn't just about Shae's rape and her resolution, but of her relationship with Lulu, who is broken in her own way. This is a film that is made to make you think.Well worth a watch once, though I don't think I'll ever go back to it, as it will stay with me for quite a while.

First - in a way, this was a take on the 1986 film, "The Boys Next Door" with Charlie Sheen yet on a slightly different level. If you've seen the film and still think it's just about two girls getting revenge, then go watch it again and look very carefully at the first scene.There's a reason there's a hold on LU for 60 seconds. Go ahead, watch it. Study her face. Her hair. Really look at it.Now look in the round mirror when she gets up to leave the bathroom.Now you get it?I'd also like to point out that Nathan Larson's score really knocks this film out of the park. I know scores. I've collected them over the decades and have an eye and ear for empathetic scoring - Prime examples of this are Blade Runner and Tangerine Dream's The Keep. It doesn't take a bombastic orchestra to score a film yet Basil Poledouris's Conan The Barbarian is one of those amazing scores that also works. Nathan however really digs into the vibe of this film's imagery (also very well done... almost Michael Mann at times...) and the whole thing plays out perfectly.

Fed up with being mistreated by men, meek college student Shae (a solid and appealing performance by the gorgeous Danielle Panabaker) joins forces with uninhibited wild girl Lulu (a dynamic and mesmerizing portrayal by luscious redhead Nicole LaLiberte) to wage war on all the evil scumbag guys who have wronged them. Writer/director Austin Chick certainly has his heart in the right place with this feminist treatise on a misogynistic society, but alas stacks the deck way too much by presenting almost every last male character as a detestable creep. Moreover, the meandering narrative, sluggish pace, and glum tone make this film quite a heavy-going chore to slog through. Worse yet, Chick generates precious little tension and fails to properly follow through on the edgy potential of the promising premise by having the violence either occur off screen or displaying disappointing restraint when comes to the gore. The lame and obvious "surprise" twist ending doesn't help matters much as well. Fortunately, the strong chemistry between the two leads keeps the movie watchable, Chick shows a real flair for striking stylish visuals (Kat Westergaard's sharp cinematography is stunning throughout), and Nathan Larson's moody score hits the brooding spot. A strictly so-so film.

Shae (Danielle Panabaker) is a college student/part-time bartender. She is having an affair with a married man. He tries to break it off and reveals that he has a daughter. She is shocked and decides to go partying. After a night out, she gets raped. She then befriends a co-worker Lulu (Nicole LaLiberte) who turns out to be a psycho and helps her get revenge.This is Death Wish for girls. At least that's the goal. The concept is fine. Filmmaker Austin Chick is definitely trying to inject some feminist anti-male theories into the start of the film. It forms the justification for Nicole to seek revenge on all men. Nicole's character is so obviously crazy right from the start. Any justification is meaningless. Danielle Panabaker's acting is very wooden. She's trying for a stun look after the rape and then the murders. But she's not Charles Bronson. It just comes off as stiff acting. If anything, this movie is an indictment of female empowerment. Instead of rooting for the death of a rapist, we're thrown as to who to truly root for.... The Rapist or The Murderers. This is a flawed film but the anti-male bent seems to have riled up the critics.