I was expecting "The Girl" to be mired in the stereotypical contrast of poverty-stricken Mexico vs. the wealthy United States with the protagonist Ashley (Abbie Cornish) coming to make a living off the misery of others, in a manner similar to that of a drug-dealer.
My low expectations were thankfully confounded. Instead I was pulled into the evolution of the protagonist as she gets too close to the people who want to cross the border to be an effectual cold-hearted "coyote".
Abbie Cornish's portrayal of a poor, white woman bred on low-grade racism is totally credible. But this is only a starting point for her character, as she travels on an emotional journey in Mexico which comes to mirror her life in Texas, but allows her to become something more than she was.
My low expectations were thankfully confounded. Instead I was pulled into the evolution of the protagonist as she gets too close to the people who want to cross the border to be an effectual cold-hearted "coyote".
Abbie Cornish's portrayal of a poor, white woman bred on low-grade racism is totally credible. But this is only a starting point for her character, as she travels on an emotional journey in Mexico which comes to mirror her life in Texas, but allows her to become something more than she was.