All Over Me (1997)

People are voting emotionally.

Fantastic!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Claude (Alison Folland) and Ellen (Tara Subkoff) are best friends in New York. Claude is struggling with her sexuality. Luke is a gay musician who moves into Claude's building. Jesse (Wilson Cruz) is a local gay teen. Ellen spends time with volatile boyfriend Mark (Cole Hauser). His friend Gus (Shawn Hatosy) keeps hitting on Claude. Luke gets into an argument with Mark and then Luke is later found murdered. Claude falls for indie musician Lucy (Leisha Hailey). Mark pushes Ellen into drugs as her friendship with Claude cracks under the pressure.It's a coming-of-age drama with a bit of bite. Folland's performance is naturalistic. Hauser and Subkoff show their acting skills. The filmmaking is raw for newcomer Sichel sisters. It is amateurish at times but the story and the actors are compelling enough to maintain focus. This deals with many edgy subject matters but it keeps it within Claude's struggle for love. That makes this a more touching exercise than other tougher contemporary indies.

I have to admit the actors were grand, it's just the story around the film didn't make any sense to me. Like if you look at the movie poster, you would think the two girls Claude and Ellen are a couple but it doesn't seem to be like that at all, it's more based on Ellen going out with a gang leader and taking too many drugs in order to still be with him.Although I just couldn't understand why the girls had a one night stand? Were they real into each other or was Ellen using her just because she was her best friend? Well either way, it seems Claude had moved on and got herself a hot chick called Lucy, who she met at the nightclub. I honestly thought that was the only I liked in this movie, their relationship!The rest to be honest wasn't that great to see as none of it just lacked interest to me!

Exceptionally well done for a low budget indie with a novice auteur, "All Over Me" is a slice-of-life character study which follows an adolescent urban girl, Claude (Folland), with a-typical sexual inclinations and a dream of playing guitar in a rock band through the mean teen streets of NYC's low rent district where she struggles to cope with a best friend's drug abuse, the murder of an acquaintance, a dysfunctional mom for family, and her own low self esteem. In lieu of a solid story, this gritty little flick with limited appeal conjures powerful performances from some young actors and is worth a look for realists into films about "growing pains" and the quiet courage of youth. (B-)

I saw this movie yesterday and I am glad to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were well-portrayed and everything was realistic. Being a teenager watching "All Over Me," it is easy to relate to what some of the characters are going through. I think it was a very good movie that should have gained more recognition.