Havoc (2005)

Havoc: Directed by Barbara Kopple. With Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Shiri Appleby, Michael Biehn. Two affluent suburban girls clash with the Latino gang culture of East Los Angeles.

“Watching this movie, the first thing that came to mind was, u0026quot;Wow, these kids sure are fake.u0026quot; In many initial reviews, this movie was derided as being a joke. It was either hearing about the various nude scenes of Anne Hathaway or a bunch of white kids trying to act black, and doing it poorly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI said that that u0026quot;fakeu0026quot; was the first thing that came to mind, because we are immediately presented with this group of rich white kids acting like they are black. However, it is being mistaken by some reviewers that these actors are doing a bad job. What we are really seeing is truly how superficial that these kids are. They are fake, in every sense of the word, and that is the whole point of the movie. Donu0026#39;t try and act like something you arenu0026#39;t because there are consequences.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI say this is a social commentary, not perfectly executed, but still fairly well done nonetheless. It does truly present many aspects of youth behavior nowadays that most people donu0026#39;t really look at. We are given a true side to high school, where there are fake people everywhere, underage and illegal activity is happening, and its all going on without parents there to see. This movie takes the comedy out of the teenage life that has been prevalent in movies over the past 8 years or so such as American Pie and other similar styled teen comedies and turns it to a sort of opposite view. Now I am not by any means saying that this movie is a guiding light which everyone should see. In fact, I donu0026#39;t know if this movie is for everyone, because of the issues it presents. Some people, especially parents, would undoubtedly have problems coming to terms that the behavior seen in this movie happens. Now it doesnu0026#39;t happen everywhere, or in every school, but Iu0026#39;m pretty sure that you know what I mean.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think this movie, is backed up by pretty well performed acting done by the majority of its cast. Anne Hathaway, who many doubted had the range to tackle such a role, seemed very natural in the part. I donu0026#39;t mean that negatively, and I actually give her credit for really becoming the character. The rest of the cast does a good job, but it is her performance that truly helps you understand most of the underlying message of the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI know that some will not see in this movie what I saw, but to each their own. I do hope that people see this movie and donu0026#39;t criticize it solely on what they think is bad acting. It has a much deeper theme than that, and I think that the more people understand that, the more people will realize this is a pretty good movie.”