Supergirl

A fly-on-the-wall documentary about drive, ambition, and the realities of change, filmmaker Jessie Auritt's Supergirl is an oddball film about a remarkable New Jersey girl named Naomi Kutin, who becomes a power weightlifter at a very young age, breaking world records and winning championships in her weight class. But as she transitions from pre-teen to adolescent, Naomi begins to lose her edge, leading to an identity crisis. Trained in weightlifting by her father, the Naomi we first meet is an 11-year-old, and nothing about her physically suggests that she can lift three times her body weight. Footage of her training and competing is sometimes startling, as is the feral growl that she emits just before a display of preternatural strength. Naomi also copes with cyberbullying, engages in orthodox Jewish rituals, deals with her parents, and seems as shy outside of competitions as she is fierce during them. Unfortunately, Auritt's visually drab film eventually become terribly redundant, although it is somewhat redeemed when Naomi grows taller and enters a new weight class—and is suddenly a smaller fish in a bigger pond. How she faces this disruption both in practical and emotional terms is the most interesting aspect of Supergirl, but it takes far too long to get there. Optional. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)