Big Girls Don't Cry: Movie Review

Cast:Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer, Noah Taylor
Director: Paloma Schneideman

There's a familiarity to director Paloma Schneideman's coming-of-age tale set in the summer of 2006 in the beaches of northern Auckland in New Zealand.

It follows teen Sid (Palmer, in her acting debut) as she contemplates six long weeks of doing nothing and trying to fill her time as she aches to be accepted by the cool kids and also find herself. She's entranced by her friend Lana and repulsed by the constant anger and irritation of her father Leo (Taylor) who's clearly still smarting from a separation from Sid's mum. The arrival of an American student Freya (Spencer) does little to quell any friction and ignites many different kinds of bombs with those in the house.

But as the film begins, she's exploring the world of dial-up webcams, turned off by the male fantasies and struggling to find her own voice and sexuality. Diving into a world of MSN chat, she strikes up a relationship that's not her own and begins to awkwardly find her own way into her own life.

First produced from Jane Campion's Wave In The Ocean filmmaking course, first-time filmmaker Schneideman's story is a sensitively played one that edges its way into familiar territory and story boundaries.

With a queer eye and some sharpness for the nastiness of girls trying to outdo each other and boys obsessing over sex, Big Girls Don't Cry doesn't really offer anything new in the way it heads to a New Year party and a denouement of disappointment for Sid.

As she negotiates both social hierarchy and her own awkward journey, Palmer imbues Sid with a subtlety that's universally recognisable - be you make or female - and a sadness that's intriguing to watch.

It's not a film that's blessed with big moments or dramas, but the small keenly observed touches make Big Girls Don't Cry a film that has a maturity from its narrative. It ends on a perfect note with the arrival of some form of growing up, but the journey to get there is one that's rich in painful recognition.