''American Girl'' is a 2002 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Jordan Brady Jordan Brady (born August 10, 1964) is an American film director, director. He was a professional stand-up comic in the 1980s, and later played small roles in many TV shows including ''Baywatch'' and ''Who's the Boss''. Brady wrote and directed ...

and starring

Jena Malone Jena Laine Malone (; born November 21, 1984) is an American actress, musician, and photographer. Known for her roles in both independent films and mainstream blockbuster features, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for a ...

Brad Renfro Brad Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his film debut at the age of 11 with a starring role in ''The Client'' (1994). He went on to appear in 21 feature films and won several awards. Prior to bein ...

Michelle Forbes Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on television and in independent films. Forbes gained attention for her dual role in daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'', for which she received a D ...

Alicia Witt Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress, singer and pianist. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in '' Dune'' (1984) and ''Twin Peaks'' (1990). Witt had a critic ...

, and

Erik von Detten Erik Thomas von Detten (born October 3, 1982) is an American singer and former actor. He is known for his roles in ''Escape to Witch Mountain'', ''Toy Story'', ''Brink!'', ''Meego'', ''The Princess Diaries'', ''Complete Savages'', and ''So Weird ...

. The film premiered on October 14, 2002 at the

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

. It was later released to DVD on January 11, 2005 under the title ''Confessions of an American Girl''.

Plot

Rena is a suicidal teenage girl whose father is serving a long prison sentence. The boy she likes only uses her for sex, and other teenage girls tease her relentlessly. Rena and her family travel to the father's prison for the annual family picnic. Things seem to be going just fine, but he eventually becomes abusive and angry. Rena's brother Jay, who is secretly gay, wanders off to tour the prison with another inmate named Buddy. Rena's half-sister Barbie sneaks off to the

conjugal visit A conjugal visit is a scheduled period in which an inmate of a prison or jail is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visitor. The visitor is usually their legal spouse, and the visit's purpose is usually sexual activity. The ...

trailers and engages in sexual intercourse with her stepfather (Rena's father), unbeknownst to the family. After this activity is witnessed by Buddy and Jay, the other inmates watch as Buddy makes her squeal like a pig in exchange for not reporting it to her mother. Jay and Buddy bond, and when the tour is over they secretly kiss passionately. Rena tells her dad that she's pregnant, news which the father does not handle well. When Rena's mother later discovers that her husband is having an affair, they get into a physical fight. When the guards see this they attack him and he stumbles backwards and falls on Rena. Rena rushes to the bathroom, finding that she's bled, and lost the baby. She breaks a picture frame and uses the glass shards to slit her wrists, but Jay saves her just in time. Rena's mother (Madge) and the children realize that the father is abusive and that continuing to support him has been holding the family back. Rena realizes that her "fond" memories of her relationship with her father were self-delusions. Madge announces that she is moving the family to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Rena tells her boyfriend about the miscarriage and when he expresses indifference, she causes his prized car to drive into a swimming pool. The end shows the family leaving home for Florida, with Rena's now ex-boyfriend running through the yard screaming at her.

Cast

as Rena Grubb *

as Jay Grubb *

as Kenton *

as Barbie *

as Madge Grubb *

Micole Mercurio Micole Diana Mercurio (March 10, 1938 – January 19, 2016) was an American film and television actress and artist. Her film credits included the roles of Rosemary Szabo in ''Flashdance'' in 1983, Mrs. Kelly in ''Gleaming the Cube'' in 1989, M ...

as Faye *

Chris Mulkey Chris Mulkey (born May 3, 1948) is an American film and television actor. Career Mulkey played the supporting role of husband to Annie Potts's character in '' Any Day Now'' from 1998 to 2002. He has also appeared in '' Captain Phillips'', '' ...

as John Grubb *

Clifton Collins Jr. Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by R ...

as Buddy

Critical reception

''American Girl'' received mixed to negative reviews from

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

. Jeff Paramchuk from

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

website gave it three out of five stars and wrote that "there really is nothing wrong with this movie, but I can see how that it would not appeal to a very large group especially given its plot", he also says that "Confessions is a decent alternative from a lot of the teen movies that we see out in recent times, but not quite on par with films that get general release". David Nusair from ''Reel Film Reviews'' gave it one and a half out of four stars and wrote that the screenplay "emphasizing tired jokes over character development" and as a result "the film feels more like an extended sitcom pilot than anything else" and conclude that "unless your idea of a good time is watching an episode of Cops, it's highly unlikely you'll find much here to embrace."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:American Girl (Film) 2002 films 2002 comedy-drama films 2002 LGBT-related films 2000s teen comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American LGBT-related films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films about self-harm 2000s English-language films Films directed by Jordan Brady 2000s American films