Movie Review: A Diary of A Teenage Girl, "A Balance of Humor and Drama"

Movie critic, Peter Howell, has delivered an honest review about the recently released movie The Diary of A Teenage Girl. Written and directed by Marielle Helle, it is a teenage coming-of-age story that revolves around 15-year-old sexually curious Minnie, played by Bel Powley, living in 1970s San Francisco and enters into an affair with an older Man who happens to be her mom's boyfriend. Starring alongside Powley are Kristin Wiig, who played Minnie's mom, and Alexander Skarsgaard, who took on the role of Monroe, who was the boyfriend of Minnie's mom. Howell has written on thestar.com that the viewer can expect to feel uncomfortable watching the movie, as it should be.

Aside from quoting famous lines from the movie, such as Minnie, screaming to her recorder or "diary" about her sexual awakening, "I've just had sex! Holy s--t!" and Minnie saying, "I feel so awkward, ugly, naïve and lonely," to her imaginary friend, Howell mentioned that the muted colors of the film rendered by Brandon Trost was marvelous. He also wrote, "The film balances humor and drama in its perceptive depiction of carnal awakening, never letting the viewer forget the legal and moral implications of its teen/adult coupling. It also doesn't go the other way, of indulging in shock for shock's sake."

The film has been rated R by the film rating system of Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) for its nudity and sexual situations but as Howell writes, "none of it is gratuitous. Minnie's craving for sex is ripe for understanding, not exploitation or judgment."

The initial release date was on August 7, 2015 in U.S. The movie an adaptation of the graphic novel by writer/artist/professor Phoebe Gloeckner that was based on her own experiences growing up. Gloeckner had personally chosen to give the rights comedian Marielle Heller, first as a play and eventually a film adaptation.

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