Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: Speak (2004)
August 28th 2009 04:53
“Speak” is a teen drama on the serious issue of date-rape. The victim, Melinda Sordino (very well played by a young Kristen Stewart), has to deal with an incredibly difficult year in which she is ostracised by her friends, picked on by teachers and, of course, deals with the fact that she was raped and doesn’t want to tell anyone. This movie seems to have the aim of bringing those who have had to deal with a similar story out of the woodwork to speak to anyone about what happened, rather than letting it crush them.
“Speak is a high school story, with high school dialogue, which makes it really easy to follow, yet it isn’t preachy or condescending. And the story may not be as uncommon as most people would like to think. The fact a boy raped her at a party and she doesn’t want to talk about it makes her an outcast, as we find out she broke up a party the night it happened but lost her nerve to tell police when they arrived. Her old friends ignore her, which makes it a hard life for a teen. Especially for someone like Melinda, who had it all not too long before. This movie adds a new dimension to Kristen Stewart’s acting prowess. While it was one of her earlier performances, it shows how good an actor she was even when she was young. It’s a tough role to play a girl with such a horrible repressed memory. It speaks levels that she was so mature so young and could play a difficult role with such conviction and believability. She plays this role well, though I feel, after seeing a few of her movies that she will always, unfortunately I believe, be typecast as a loner type character, although her free-spirited character from “Into the Wild” is great and shows but a small glimpse of her range as an actress.
The film also looks at the older characters like parents and teachers and their misunderstanding of teenagers. It may be a clichéd idea but it is well shown via her parent’s (D. B Sweeney and Elizabeth Perkins) distantness and her social studies teacher Mr Neck (Robert John Burke) persecution of her because of a grudge that comes out of nothing. The relationship between Melinda and her mother was the most interesting as her mother is so cold and would only speak a sentence or two to her early on, as if Melinda was all of a sudden being unfair. But if she all of a sudden went from being a bright, gregarious girl to a cold introvert, you would like to think that a parent would be able to tell and try to help. Her father on the other hand seems to not know how to handle her. The only teacher she sees eye to eye to is the art teacher, Mr Freeman (Steve Zahn) who is a fairly lamely rebellious teacher. He, although not a huge part, helps Melinda come out of her shell through her art. There is quite a nice scene later on when she shows him the room she’d found with all her work hung up in it.
When it comes to school friends, although ostracised, a new student, Heather (Allison Siko) befriends her at the beginning of school, but eventually dumps her because Melinda seems depressed. That’d be hard enough but her ongoing feud over the party with her ex-best friend Rachel (Hallee Hirsh) leaves her friendless and lonely. It becomes harder when she begins to date the boy who raped Melinda (played by Eric Lively) and Melinda all of a sudden sees him everywhere. In the end, her only friend becomes the intelligent, progressive, even romantically teen anarchistic Dave Petrakis (Michael Angarano), who helps her out; telling her the only way to fight against the repression she faces is to speak out. While oblivious to the trauma she had faced, it is good advice to cover all of her issues.
“Speak” is a very good teenage movie. It tackles difficult subject matter well. It also develops really well. While the secret isn’t that well hidden, it’s really how Melinda deals with the memory. It becomes more difficult when she sees him everywhere, but this is where Kristen Stewart’s maturity shines through. It isn’t a boring at any stage, and while it is a very teenage movie, it is a difficult, even too mature subject matter for the dialogue. It revels in the great direction from co-writer Jessica Sharzer and the outstandingly convincing performance from Kristen Stewart, especially since her character doesn’t have much dialogue. I’d give this film 3.5 out of 5, though it is well worth seeing for teenagers especially.
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