Speak 2004

     This film is based on a young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson.  Fifteen year-old Melinda Sordino is a freshman for the new school year.  She has a secret that she’s not able to tell anyone.  All her friends and classmates are shunning and bullying her because she called the police during a summer party.  They refer to her as the “squealer.”  They can’t understand why she called the police and she left because she was unable to talk to the officers.  She’s suffering from depression, she has no friends and she doesn’t talk to her parents.  Her only adult connection is with her art teacher Mr. Freeman.  She finds a secret room in the hallway of the school where she does her drawings and hides out.  Her parents become worried when her report card comes and her grades have slipped. 

     Kristen Steward does a good job of conveying her emotions without saying words. Very slowly Melinda starts to heal and her lab partner plus Mr. Freeman begin to pull her out of her depression.  Speaking may be the only way she can be free to be herself again?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

89 min, Drama directed by Jessica Sharzer with Kristen Stewart, Elizabeth Perkins, Dick Hagerman, Allison Siko, Remy Brommer, Robert John Burke, Grace Ameter, Ryanna Rolley, Leslie Lyles, Hallee Hirsh, Michael Angarano.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 208 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Columbus, Ohio.  Director Jessica Scharzer is shown in an early scene spooning out mashed potatoes in the cafeteria on the first day of school.  Kristen Steward also starred in the Twilight Series first released in 2008.