About a Girl (2001-08-25)
Drama |
Overview
Directed By: Brian Percival
Star Cast: Ashley Thewlis , John Slater , Sue Jaynes , Laren Creek ,
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“Mum, she’s not got worms. It’s dental floss”. Such words of wisdom are commonplace for this young lass (Ashley Thewlis) as she shares her life with her much younger sibling and her mother (Sue Jaynes). Her mother and father (John Slater) have separated and so she is, to an extent, a product of this erratic domestic dynamic and is unsure with whom she wishes to live. For the next fifteen minutes she narrates a monologue of her situation whilst wandering along the side of a canal. Using her occasionally quite witty repartee, she only thinly disguises some of the serious issues that are impacting upon her - and many other children from other working class homes - as she strolls. Thewlis delivers quite engagingly for the most part but I did think the dialogue a little too close to a moan to be as impactful as I'd have liked. There is quite a sinister twist at the end that suggests something of the Dickensian to their lives and it is worth a watch, but I felt it's agenda did more to reinforce stereotype than challenge it.