The Virgin Suicides

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Josh Hartnett, Kathleen Turner, Scott Glenn, Danny DeVito, Hayden Christensen, Giovanni Ribisi (voice)
Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a young girl commits suicide, her four sisters begin their slow destructive path partially due to their overprotective parents (James Woods, Kathleen Turner). One of the most interesting aspects of the story follows sister Lux (Kirsten Dunst) and her high school romance with Trip (Josh Hartnett). Adapted from the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Review:

Tim: This film won immense acclaim, especially for the directorial debut of Sophia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's daughter). Teh film itself is a very interesting look at a family during the 1970's, from normalcy to the eventual heartbreaking suicide of four young women. Besides that fact, the film itself is fairly entertaining, and enjoys good performances from Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett (although they don't have the best chemistry on screen, but oh well). It has a great supporting cast, with James Woods and Kathleen Turner. It's also given a very good narration by Giovanni Ribisi.

All of these things add up to a pretty decent movie. I definitely recommend seeing this film at least once, as it features a number of good performances, direction, and tells a complete story very well. I did have a problem with a number of things with the film, and I'm not sure if it was Coppola's fault, or just the novel from which it was adapted. Regardless, there are a number of holes in the plot. For example, it's never really explained why the young girl commits suicide in the first place. I'm sure there are some cases where there IS no explanation, but it seemed forced to me. Secondly, there is really no explanation why the girls commit suicide in the end. Sure, there's a number of factors, but why invite the boys over to help them escape.... if most of them were already dead? I just do not understand, and for that reason, my admiration and enjoyment of the film was slightly diminished.

I still recommend seeing the film- maybe you'll understand it better than I did. Regardless, it does tell a very good story, and is worth seeing at least one time.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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