Big Girls Don't Cry

It's shocking what kids get up to these days: the drugs, the blowjobs, the wandering of lonely nighttime streets in the throes of adolescent angst. Yes, this German coming-of-age drama delivers stunning performances from its young stars, and director Maria von Heland is a talented visualist, but this box, however grim-prettily wrapped, is mostly empty. True, we haven't elsewhere specifically met bestest friends Kati (Anna Maria Mühe), breaking free of the influence of her strict, religious parents, and Steffi (Karoline Herfurth), who could give her wild parents a lesson or two in morality, but we've seen too many stories with characters just like them to be surprised or moved by their lives, a tiresome mélange of teen depression, teen sex, teen crime, and teen friendship surviving all. Yawn. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include cast interviews, deleted scenes, and a "making-of" featurette. Bottom line: a decent little extras package for a rather run-of-the-mill teen angst drama.] (M. Johanson)