Movie #1299 "The Fits" - Michael Philips, movie critic for Chicago Tribune, pointed to this film as one of the best of the year, and it was on a list for spirit awards (which are given the night before the AA's) so I thought I would get it through netflix and see it. It is an interesting viewing, for sure. It follows the life of a little African American girl who hangs out at the high school, working out in the boxing ring when her brother and his friends aren't using the equipment, and she helps clean the school with him afterwards. Meanwhile, she watches the female drill team and decides to try out for it. The rest of the film is her going to practices and cleaning the school. This would be pretty boring if one thing didn't happen ---- for no apparent reason, one at a time, a girl on the drill squad experience a "fit" --- spinning around, speaking incoherently, throwing up, experiencing pain...etc. Then, the story starts to become something else..........the lead girl is one of the littler, more capable girls on the squad, but she seems to feel once again, left out while one by one of her friends has a "fit" --- is this a film about peer pressure and wanting to fit in? is it about how we have to be more observant of the water we drink? (because the school keeps saying to drink bottled water, just in case) Is it a film about how we overwork kids in the extracurriculars? Is the whole film a metaphor for something bigger possibly concerning the issue of racism? Who knows? And critics don't seem to know either because I looked at what they had to say. I must say the film seems to want to say something, we just aren't sure what it is.....the little girl in the lead is very good and the camera quietly follows her and her brother (where's the rest of the family? no background here) and his girlfriend, and her little friends and the drill team, but unless it is successful in giving some unifying message to an audience, I don't see why I would recommend that people see it. Perhaps, that's my problem, but to just give us some info on what this little girl does on a daily basis, and to maybe shed light on how much work it takes to be on the drill team . that doesn't seem enough to warrant the making of such a film. So I don't recommend it. And I wonder what Michael Philips saw in it. He never said in his review either. hmm.
"THE FITS" 1 hour and 12 minutes 2016 2.8 stars out of 5
Captivated by a dance drill team known as the Lionesses and yearning for social acceptance, insecure tomboy Toni tries out for the squad and lands a spot. But just as she starts to gain confidence, inexplicable episodes of fainting plague the group.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment