Towelhead

2007 US Alan Ball
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Alan Ball plays with a Lebanese Lolita rather than Mena Suvari in this re-hash of American Beauty, which was garbage to begin with. You get: depravity lurking beneath suburbia, over-cooked dinner scenes, a redneck neighbour with a sexual underbelly, thick second helpings of "symbolism" topped with pretentious dialogue—even the freakin' music is the twinkling same. The story is about the sexual awakening (popular cinema topic, no?) of an Arab-American 13-year old, in case you're wondering. But, really: add in that Ball can't direct (dullness), and the film ends up staring at you like a well-dressed deaf-mute for two hours. It's disconcerting, but not because it deals with sexual abuse; rather, because you're asked to take it seriously. I snickered back in '99, now you're just annoying me, Ball. Actors do a decent job, considering. With two games played, the Suburbs lead Alan 2-0.