The very middle-class (self-appointed) adults in this movie like to pride themselves on awareness and self-knowledge (after a lifetime of privileged access to learning), but then freak out when "kids" find ways of self-governing and independence, freedom from all the trite platitudes "It'll be okay", "You're gonna make it" and so on, ad infinitum. The film opens with an alert about "conditions" ahead, but fails to warn that all young people face conditions, irrespective of eating disorders. Life itself is a bully, the sod who trips you up, gives you a black eye, spits in your porridge, superglues your locker. Adulthood likewise is a myth, an obfuscation of the failure to mature. Adults don't have the courage to admit "No, it will not be okay, it will be all uphill." Real help will be rare in coming, and most times too late. So while independence and self-determination are touted as values for youngsters to seek, it is often the supposed adults that shackle youth's urges to break out. As the then-young singer Cat Stevens so aptly stated: "From the moment I could talk, I was ordered to listen." Tackling a subject that presumably touches the writer/director Marti Noxon from personal experience, the resulting screenplay is hampered by pseudo-romantic distractions (despite the two young actors' immense talents), and not least by the wooden Keanu Reeves (why he's still onscreen is a mystery). Importantly, many reviewers came to this movie with their own experiences of the subject-matter (including distraught mothers), and it is good to read their comments on how it was handled; some were sympathetic, many were outraged. Without doubting Noxon's sincerity, the situation is far worse than she depicts. We look forward to her next outing as director/writer.
Review of To the Bone
