Picture Day (2012)

Picture Day (2012). 1h 33m | R

“u0026quot;Picture Dayu0026quot; stars Tatiana Maslany as Claire, a girl whou0026#39;s described as being caught in between adolescence and adulthood. But thatu0026#39;s only accurate if adulthood is actually an immature state of being where teenagers are snarky and rude because they think theyu0026#39;re cool and smarter than everybody else. Sheu0026#39;s smack dab in the middle of adolescence no matter how mature she might think she is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDuring Claireu0026#39;s last year of high school – again, she meets two guys. Jim is legally an adult, thereby making him older and wiser. He also represents the sex, drugs and rock u0026amp; roll stage of u0026quot;adulthoodu0026quot;. Henry is younger than Claire, but also mature, studious and observant. Heu0026#39;s also more sheltered and needs someone to show him the harsh realities of coming of age.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe coming of age parallels within in this film are apparent and abundant. Claireu0026#39;s stuck between adolescence and adulthood and is repeating her last year of high school – as if sheu0026#39;s unable to know when she needs to grow up. Sheu0026#39;s also torn between two guys, representing the high school and adult worlds sheu0026#39;s torn between. And then within the guys themselves, the older one is more immature and less adapted to the adult-world and has no need for Claire himself. While the younger one can provide Claire with the stability she needs and has the maturity to approach adolescence like an adult. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe problem is all those parallels are represented within the premise, once you actually start watching the movie, thereu0026#39;s nothing left to discover. u0026quot;Think these ideas are smart? Good, because thatu0026#39;s all weu0026#39;ve got.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWorse is that the characters themselves donu0026#39;t provide any reasons to keep watching. Claire is rude, insolent and immature, and doesnu0026#39;t deserve our sympathy or even our attention. Jim is a walking, talking stereotype that is even more annoying than that sounds. Henry is a decent character, and since that should solve her boy-related dilemma, the only dilemma thatu0026#39;s left is why weu0026#39;re still watching.”