Very Good Girls (2013)

Best movie ever!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Emotionally complex. A great, realistic portrayal of the challenges of a troubled family life and of love and friendship. People make mistakes, and mistakes have to be forgiven, is what this movie seems to say. This movie will have you laughing, crying, suspicious, angry and happy until the very end. It didn't really seem to me that the girls actually made a pact. That would be my main complaint about the plot. They did talk about losing their virginity, but didn't really make any plans. Other than that, a really good movie.

We watched this at home on DVD from our public library.It isn't a great movie but it has some interesting elements. The ages of the main actors were a bit disconcerting, Fanning was 18, Olsen was 23, and Holbrook was 31 during filming.Dakota Fanning is Lilly, good daughter, eldest of three, preparing to graduate and go off to Yale. Her parents are Psychiatrists, with offices in their home, they seem well-off. Lilly has a job, she is a guide for boat tours of the New York Harbor areas.Her best friend, almost like a sister, is Elizabeth Olsen as Gerri. At some point nearing the end of their senior year they discuss not wanting to graduate and go off to college still as virgins.While at the beach in the summer they encounter Boyd Holbrook as David, an aspiring photographic artist, operating an ice cream stand. The two friends talk to him, everyone goes on their way.As it turns out each girl makes contact again with David, but for most of the movie the other doesn't know about it. Lilly gets very involved, she and David sleep together often. Gerri lies about sleeping with David, it turns out he is faithful to Lilly but her doubts cause her to treat them badly.The summer is ending, David decides to head to Paris to pursue his photography, Lilly and Gerri make up, life goes on. Just a slice of life story, teenage girls trying to figure out adult life and where it may lead them.Not a bad movie but not particularly memorable.

Why would such a strong cast go for such a non-event script - trite dialogue, plain and even ridiculous plot? Except for Elizabeth Olsen, who appears to enjoy her role in a very natural believable way, the rest looked like they were dragged into it, and had to just hum reluctantly along with some 'forced acting'.Dakota Fanning is especially out-of-it, the first time I've seen her dazed and uncomfortable in a role she played in a very zombie manner - it was a total miscast at any rate.She needs a meatier role to be able to sink her teeth into. A simple lost youth in a silly lost script she is not, one as a virgin notwitshtanding.It is a B-grade movie with an A-grade cast. What a waste! I hope it's just a bad fluke for all concerned, and not because good roles in good movies are drying out for them.

Very Good Girls is a coming of age story that touches on friendship, family, love and discovering when it's okay to indulge in yourself. Nothing new there, amIright? The mood is set fairly early on, kicking off the 'best friends forever' feel.Elizabeth Olsen and Dakota Fanning have great chemistry, and there is nothing stopping you from believing that they truly are best friends, which really plays into the story when you witness a 'betrayal' of some kind. Although you fall in love with the sweetness of the romance that blossoms you cannot help but 'tisk, tisk' at the surreptitious actions of this 'friend.'The movie keeps your attention all throughout it although you're not sure what you want to come of the story. The build up to the ending is perfectly paced and the performances are spectacular. Dakota Fanning delivers yet again and Elizabeth Olsen is letting it known that she is an actress to reckon with. 7.4/10