Carrie Pilby

A breath of fresh air. A bit of a Salinger's catcher in the rye in it. Infused with good values and so a drop of a bit of an antidote to an increasingly cynical society. Feel good and a pleasant hour and a half.

Not a comedy, nor a drama, this film has surprised me a lot. The characters are quirky and likeable, the story may be considered a coming-of-age tale, but it's so much more. Give humanity a chance and yourself, too, that's the lesson. And beyond that, a very relaxing film that's humorous and touching in unexpected ways.

Carrie is a young Harvard graduate, healthy and pretty, and she lives in a New York City apartment paid for by her Dad. Despite such advantages, she is crippled by fear and insecurity. Stung by human cruelty and indifference, Carrie has become cynical, defensive and a loner without a job or purpose. Her fastidious nature only digs more holes for herself. Luckily, Carrie's therapist has a plan to get her out of the funk. Despite the straightforward and simple nature of the plan which requires that Carrie merely re-read a favorite book, find a friend, go on a date, get a pet and do something she loved as a child, Carrie balks, struggles and finds snarky ways to cut corners. Though Carrie struggles, the plan begins to work its magic in getting her to engage with the world again. She finds that the source of her pain is also the source of her strength.

The main actor, Bel Powley, is charming and a wonder to watch. The dialogue is sharp and funny. I loved the theme of the story; a good person who is wounded emotionally and struggling with their innate power. In Carrie there is this timeless hero myth retold from a female perspective for a change. It is refreshing. The film is based on a book of the same name. The film gets a little clunky when it relies too heavily on lines. It then has a preordained quality like lemmings going to the sea. Overall, though, it is alluring and clever. Seen at the Miami International Film Festival.

This movie really captures a person floundering through life and finally coming into their own. Most people go through this at some point in their life and this makes the film very relatable to the average person. The story flows nicely and the main characters are well rounded. Overall, a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

A better film than I thought. What I thought was seeing how it was received. It was based on the book of the same name, directed by a newcomer. A coming-of-age film, about a 19 year old smart girl, but struggling in the real world since finished her education. Particularly, she's having a trouble with her father in communicating. Not that she's incapable of blend in with the rest of the world, but she's preoccupied with what she's interested in. Now her therapist hints to make a list to accomplish things than the dull life according to him she's presently living on. During her attempt, what are all things she go through was told in the remaining narration.

Bel Powley was brilliant in the title role. It was more like a sequel to her previous film 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl'. Like it was the next stage of her story. Between adulthood and teenhood, at the edge of teenage. Apart from her, the rest of the cast was decent. I usually like this kind of films, but they are all same. Developed from the basic storyline that we are very familiar with. In that perspective, this is not an impressive film, especially if you have seen plenty. Even though not bad for watching it once. Since the characters, cast and settings differ, besides the presentation was good, it surely a nice film to watch alone in a lazy weekend. Probably under- appreciated, but definitely an under- noticed film of the year.

7/10