'According to Greta' according to Khizer

Okay, so two days ago the long awaited movie "According to Greta" or"Greta" as it was titled before (and how I like it better) was finally released on Blu Ray and DVD. This movie starring Hilary Duff, was announced early in Duff's career when she stated she had a project about a suicidal girl that she was going to wait to do until she was older. In late 2007, Duff announced that she was ready for the role and the film was shot in 2008. After having a website and teaser released in early 2009, the movie got a limited theatrical release in December and the DVD/Blu Ray came out this past Tuesday (January 19, 2010).

The movie itself bears a close resemblance to Georgia Rule, ironically starring her former rival, Lindsay Lohan. Though it is debatable which story was actually written first (as Duff announced this project in her early years), both follow a similar plot. Greta (Hilary Duff) is sent to her grandparents (Ellen Burnstyn and Michael Murphy ) because she is problematic. Immediately after arriving at her grandparents living in the Jersey Shore area, she informs them of her plans to commit suicide. She has this notebook in which she writes down ways she can kill herself, and things she wants to do before she dies. While crossing things off her list, she meets Julie (Evan Ross), a line cook at the restaurant she works at who seems to be the only person getting through to her and making some type of change for the better in her life. And thus the plots revolves around Greta's teenage rebel attitude toward her grandparents, people, and life in general. Of course, Greta isn't just a rebel to be a rebel, but she has a reason deep down that is causing this attitude, some of which comes from her mom (Melissa Leo) who seems to care more about her relationships (currently on her 9thhusband/boyfriend) than for Greta herself. I will stop there before I say too much and spoil the ending.

Now, here comes the Khizer rant (here there will be spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie and are planning to, I would stop reading...NOW):

I was heavily anticipating this movie and thus had high expectations. The movie was overall successful in fulfilling these expectations. Hilary's acting was really good and she played a convincing and amusing role as a troubled teenager. Evan Ross also delivered a great performance, and the chemistry between him and Hilary onscreen was also brilliant. Character development throughout the movie was also great...until the end. The climax of the movie seemed to be when Greta's mom came to pick her up and send her to boot camp. Greta didn't want to go and suddenly had the urge to stay with her grandparents. When did she go from completely rebellious to nice girl? Did we miss a few scenes? After making this suggestion, Greta just walks away, and when she comes back she finds her mom packed her suitcase and is lugging it out. Greta snaps and starts fighting with her mom playing a sort of tug-of-war with the suitcase. Greta's grandfather comes to the rescue, and tells his daughter (Greta's mom) that no one is going anywhere except her boyfriend. After a few seconds of unconvincing arguing that she needs her boyfriend, Greta's mom seems to agree to stay, although this is also unclear. A woman who is earlier portrayed as a carefree mom who wants to send her daughter away to her grandparents so she can have time with her boyfriend/husband is so easily convinced and is so vulnerable to her parents' anger that she decides to stay? This already being unclear, it seems that Greta is now a completely changed character, very happy and cheerful with her mom and grandma as they look at younger pictures of her and her deceased father. Is there a time lapse we are missing? Again, how did Greta go from a rebellious teenager, to a happy family girl? There was no "1 month" or "1 week later" title slide to explain a time lapse. Is it that easy to change someone from being suicidal to happy? After this scene, Greta is shown going into the beach and dumping her diary in the water. As she walks out, she is scene walking on the shore and the credits begin to role. So what, is everything okay now? Her mom came back, they got in a quick fight, and a day later everything is okay? She is normal now? She is saved? What happened to Julie? What happened to the character development that was going so well till that point? If this was a joke, where's the punch line? It's not like the movie was going excessive in time: the movie ended at a mere hour and half at the end of the credits. They could have added even 15-20 minutes more to the movie to make it more well rounded out and less rushed at the end. I went and looked at the alternate ending featured expecting an answer to all my questions. Instead, I saw the same ending with the only difference being Greta waving/acknowledging Julie as she came out of the beach walking on the shore. Okay, so despite not changing my opinion on the rushed ending, this ending would've STILL been better than the one actually used. At least it kind-of showed what happens with her and Julie at the end.

The blame doesn't really go to the cast of the movie (though Melissa Leo had a really hard time proving she was an Oscar nominee with her character in this film), but to the director. How could you let such a good movie just end like that? How did you not see everything going smoothly and then an end that seemed so sudden. When leaving a movie theater, or a sofa in my case, its the end that you remember as its the last thing you see. If my opinion was based on just the end, then the movie would get 1 out of 5 stars. A major let down on a movie that I was anticipating since it was announced by Hilary Duff. However, after looking at the movie as a whole, the first hour and 10 minutes were great. Hilary Duff, Evan Ross, Ellen Burnstyn, and Michael Murphy all gave great performances, and all of them brought their own sense of humour. All the characters had great chemistry...of course up and till the end where everything just went down hill. Hilary Duff also proved herself as a good actress, portraying and capturing Greta's character, one so different than her own. So what's my final verdict? Well, if I could contact the directer and give her an earful, I would. If I could call the cast and shoot some scenes to complete the missing pieces, I would. I can't. The movie was like a sundae that only came with the the ice cream; no sauce or sprinkles. Although it still tastes good, it doesn't taste as good as it would with the condiments, and I feel that's the best way to describe "According to Greta". Overall, the movie was good, but to go from good to great, it needed some sauce and sprinkles...mmmm sauce and sprinkles.

Khizer's rating: 3.5/5 stars