Nothing new under the sun when it comes to storyline, here's another typical TV movie based on a real life story where a teen girl is accused of murdering a man and now she
faces such charge with the possibility of getting the death penalty. Yet if the movie has some appeal and a following base is thanks to the fresh presences of future major stars
Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt. It's always fascinating to see and follow actors before their stardom and usually they deliver good performances which only evidences that they had
a great deal of talent way before time - some actors appear in clunkers or cheesy movies, it's hard to escape and people need to eat, pay their bills and do what they love which
is to act so most folks accept anything they can get. "Too Young to Die?" luckily is a fine moment for both young actors.
Juliette is the innocent teen whose major problem in life was having to deal with a problematic family with an abusive stepdad and a mother who refuses to believe in the girl's accusations against the drunk man. From there her life is all downhill after a brief, failed marriage with an irresponsible 18-year-old, she wanders from place to place starving to death without knowing what to do with her life since she can't come back home (and that lousy couple end up moving after all), until she finds the unwanted company of the low-life character played by Pitt, who arranges her a job as an exotic dancer. Their involvement plays the use of drugs mess things up and when she finally finds some solace in the company of a more mature man (Michael O'Keefe) things get pretty heavy.
The story is told through flashbacks, so she's already caught by authorities and we hear her version of events as she tells it to a dedicated lawyer (Michael Tucker), who'll try his best efforts to convince the jury and everyone that she's innocent. Their scenes are some of the best in the whole movie as he tries to uncover the truth and protect her from harm.
It's heavily cliched but then again so does life also happens to be a strange cliche, specially when it comes to lost characters and acts of murder. It's a painful experience to watch since almost nothing good happens to this naive girl, she doesn't stand a chance at anything, and we see that she could have turn things around for good in the company of a waitress who offers her a place to stay or a friend of which they became roommates for a while, she always makes the worst decision ever and it all revolves around men. But wasn't a man who ruined her life early on and made her an unwanted presence by his mother? It makes one angry that she fails to see the signs or understand things. Sure, teenagers are easily impressed most of the time but there's a part of me that kept wondering from what people did she came from? The brief presentation of her family life doesn't indicate someone as being living in a complete state of alienation yet she seems to not know anything about life. It's infurating.
On a higher level, the movie does have a positive meaning specially to youngsters. Watch it and you'll never forget the lessons to be learned from it. There's plenty of good things to show despite its downer storyline and outcome. On a more superficial level, just enjoy the show by the cast with everyone providing their best acting with the best of what's available. 6/10.
Juliette is the innocent teen whose major problem in life was having to deal with a problematic family with an abusive stepdad and a mother who refuses to believe in the girl's accusations against the drunk man. From there her life is all downhill after a brief, failed marriage with an irresponsible 18-year-old, she wanders from place to place starving to death without knowing what to do with her life since she can't come back home (and that lousy couple end up moving after all), until she finds the unwanted company of the low-life character played by Pitt, who arranges her a job as an exotic dancer. Their involvement plays the use of drugs mess things up and when she finally finds some solace in the company of a more mature man (Michael O'Keefe) things get pretty heavy.
The story is told through flashbacks, so she's already caught by authorities and we hear her version of events as she tells it to a dedicated lawyer (Michael Tucker), who'll try his best efforts to convince the jury and everyone that she's innocent. Their scenes are some of the best in the whole movie as he tries to uncover the truth and protect her from harm.
It's heavily cliched but then again so does life also happens to be a strange cliche, specially when it comes to lost characters and acts of murder. It's a painful experience to watch since almost nothing good happens to this naive girl, she doesn't stand a chance at anything, and we see that she could have turn things around for good in the company of a waitress who offers her a place to stay or a friend of which they became roommates for a while, she always makes the worst decision ever and it all revolves around men. But wasn't a man who ruined her life early on and made her an unwanted presence by his mother? It makes one angry that she fails to see the signs or understand things. Sure, teenagers are easily impressed most of the time but there's a part of me that kept wondering from what people did she came from? The brief presentation of her family life doesn't indicate someone as being living in a complete state of alienation yet she seems to not know anything about life. It's infurating.
On a higher level, the movie does have a positive meaning specially to youngsters. Watch it and you'll never forget the lessons to be learned from it. There's plenty of good things to show despite its downer storyline and outcome. On a more superficial level, just enjoy the show by the cast with everyone providing their best acting with the best of what's available. 6/10.