This film is something in the tradition of "Stealing Home" or "The Year My Voice Broke." Set in 1960s New York is the story of a young suburban girl (Dushku)and her rambunctious teen neighbor (Juliette Lewis) who falls in love with the town "roughie" (C. Thomas Howell). Like many films of this kind, in that Romeo and Juliette sense, a tragedy is the result of their relationship.
The tag line for this movie is "In every life, there's a friendship you'll never forget." We learn which one that is for Alice.
The story is told from the point of view from the young neighbor, Alice Bloom, played quite well by Eliza Dushku. Her story is more interesting and less predictable than that of the lovestruck teenagers. Because of her neighbor's (Lewis) bold persona, she serves as Alice's vicarious (and soon, real) escape from a somewhat clueless family and a bunch of friends who tease her quite a bit. But, as the neighbor and her boyfriend began to get more serious in their relationship, the neighbor's mother (and the rest of the suspicious neighborhood) forbids her from seeing the boy. Soon enough, Alice becomes involved in the situation.
This turned out to be a better movie than I expected, but only because of the innocence and somewhat naivety of the ten-year-old protagonist, Alice (Dushku), who seems to survive among a wave of loveless households and idiotic playmates. She's a reminder to all the confusion and awkwardness of that age, as well, which adds to much of the humor. And, she is even invited to a sort of teenage underworld (under the boardwalk). The love story, however, between the neighbor and her boyfriend just seemed to be boilerplate. Not to mention, some deadpan acting by Howell, which detracted from much believability. But Eliza Dushku really steals the show for this one and I would highly recommend watching it.
The tag line for this movie is "In every life, there's a friendship you'll never forget." We learn which one that is for Alice.
The story is told from the point of view from the young neighbor, Alice Bloom, played quite well by Eliza Dushku. Her story is more interesting and less predictable than that of the lovestruck teenagers. Because of her neighbor's (Lewis) bold persona, she serves as Alice's vicarious (and soon, real) escape from a somewhat clueless family and a bunch of friends who tease her quite a bit. But, as the neighbor and her boyfriend began to get more serious in their relationship, the neighbor's mother (and the rest of the suspicious neighborhood) forbids her from seeing the boy. Soon enough, Alice becomes involved in the situation.
This turned out to be a better movie than I expected, but only because of the innocence and somewhat naivety of the ten-year-old protagonist, Alice (Dushku), who seems to survive among a wave of loveless households and idiotic playmates. She's a reminder to all the confusion and awkwardness of that age, as well, which adds to much of the humor. And, she is even invited to a sort of teenage underworld (under the boardwalk). The love story, however, between the neighbor and her boyfriend just seemed to be boilerplate. Not to mention, some deadpan acting by Howell, which detracted from much believability. But Eliza Dushku really steals the show for this one and I would highly recommend watching it.