Ginger & Rosa

    Ginger and Rosa are two teenage girls growing up in London during the 1960s, trying to figure themselves out as well as the world around them.  In the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis, as well as family strife at home, Ginger must come to terms with her lousy choice in friends and her less than ideal parents. 

    In spite of coming in at only 90 minutes, this little indie feels oh so long, mostly due to its extremely uncomfortable subject matter.  For half of the film you wonder where they are going with the story and then the second half you wish they hadn’t gone there.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I think its safe to say that this movie takes its audience to a pretty miserable place. 

    That being said, its not a horrible film just because its not an entertaining one.  Elle Fanning is budding into an exceptional actress and if she keeps turning in these kinds of performances she just might beat her sister Dakota in the race to win an Oscar.  The rest of the cast, even while playing very ugly characters, also turn in great performances. 

    Ultimately this film is about loss of innocence as seen through the eyes of a young girl.  Not maybe in the way these stories are traditionally told, but definitely in regard to a naive teenager coming to the realization that adults lie and scheme and also make huge, huge mistakes that manage to drag down everyone around them.