Stars: Ariyan Johnson, Kevin Thigpen. During the first half of writer/director Leslie Harris' debut feature film, one is reminded of a bumper sticker that reads "Hire a teenager, while they still know everything." The little-miss-know-it-all here is 17-year-old Chantel (Ariyan Johnson), an inner-city black Brooklyn high schooler who plans to go to med school after graduating as a junior with great grades. Mouthing off to parents, teachers, and customers at her part-time job, Chantel is self-centered, smart, sassy, and filled with a confidence that is alternately admirable and obnoxious. The first half of the film follows Chantel and her girlfriend Natete's small talk and Chantel's sneaking out to a party where she promptly drops her boyfriend Gerard, and hooks up with the slick Tyrone (Kevin Thigpen), whose major point of attraction is his Jeep. As in the good old days of Greek tragedy, the audience begins to suspect that Chantel's overweening hubris is the first half of the "pride goeth before a fall" equation, and fall she does. For all Chantel's intelligence, she's relatively ignorant about birth control and conception. As her dream world turns into a nightmare, Chantel goes into major denial, hiding her pregnancy, and trying to continue as if life hasn't changed. But, during one of the most intense sequences on film this year, reality regains Chantel's full attention. While Harris' semi sugar-coated ending is rather false, the rest of Just Another Girl on the IRT rings alarmingly true. Ignorance is not bliss; for many unwed mothers it can be the dead-end of dreams. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Audience: The high-powered hip hop dialogue and jammin' soundtrack will appeal to older teens, and the bold, unconventional approach to the story will capture the attention of serious film lovers.
Just Another Girl on the IRT
Drama, LIVE Home Video, 1992, Color, 96 min., $92.98, rated: R (language, sexual situations) Video Movies
Just Another Girl on the IRT
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