MrGKB Review of The Tracey Fragments

The Tracey Fragments (2007)

C'mon, let's be honest with ourselves, shall we?...

[5/10 · 19 November 2009]

...this was artsy nonsense with a capital fartsy, no two ways about it. Presented in a scattergun multi-frame format, Bruce "Picture Claire" McDonald's "experimental" rendition of novice novelist Maureen Medved's faux "Catcher in the Rye" tale of teen angst and despair (with a screenplay by the selfsame author) utterly fails to engage, primarily due to its highly stylized presentation, and almost completely unlikeable protagonist, a loopy 15-year-old outcast with some serious problems (like losing a little brother who thinks he's a dog) and an attitude that made this viewer wish she would follow him wherever he probably went. Starring Ellen "Hard Candy" Page, who riffs incessantly on the darker edges of her "Juno" persona, "The Tracey Fragments" is far too much of a labor to watch to get anything meaningful out of it. No doubt Ms. Medved was tickled to write her own screen adaptation--more power to her--but if her source material is anything like this film, it must be damned near unreadable, and just as depressingly irritating. I give it five stars strictly for the obvious love and craftsmanship that went into it, and a pretty decent soundtrack. Ms. Page is a fine actress, and I hope she got a good paycheck, but this is not the sort of pretentious twaddle I want to see her doing. Grow up, young lady, and start acting your age. Of slim peripheral interest: "The Tracey Fragments" features at least two kevinbacons to George Romero. I'll leave it to Constant Reader to discover them.