Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

whpratt1 This film starts off with a young girl, Rena Gruff, (Jena Malone) sitting on a floor and breaks a picture frame in order to cut her wrists. You also proceed to see Rena try to hang herself on a dead tree limb and her efforts fail. Rena has a half-sister named Jay Gruff who looks down on her younger sister and treats her very badly. Rena also has a brother named Jay Gruff, (Brad Renfo) who is a young boy who seems hen pecked with all the woman around him. However, he loves his mother, Madge, (Michelle Forbes) who loves her family and holds the family together. The father is in prison for killing someone and most of the family do not care very much for him at all. Rena has a deep interest in her father and wants the family to visit their father for a prison picnic and no one in the family really want to attend, but Madge changed the families minds and that is when the film takes a very interesting change and there is some dark comedy, but this film is rather depressing.

MagicStarfire Well, it means, you and your family are all losers and dumber than dirt, unfortunately.The film's central character is Rena Grubb (Jena Malone), a young teenage girl. I don't know Rena's exact age, maybe 13 or 14. She lives in a trailer park with her mother, older brother Jay, and older half-sister, Barbie. Rena's father, John, is in prison serving two life sentences.Rena is not happy. She makes several suicide attempts. Nor does she have much reason to be happy all things considered.She's being used by the popular boy in school, who doesn't even want to be seen in public with her, and then she gets pregnant by him. Her own mother's first pregnancy was at 15 - and the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, evidently.One thing Rena is hanging onto is thoughts of her Daddy. He got sent away when she was very young, so she has only scant memories of him. She feels Daddy not being there is why things are going so badly for her and the family.Rena finally badgers her mother into all of them attending the picnic at the prison and seeing John.A whole lot of truths are revealed during that family picnic at the prison.To say much more would give too much away so I'll stop at this point, and say only that the film was excellent. It is a dark comedy at times, poignant at other times and held my interest completely.All the performers gave 100% to their roles.10 stars.

Corrie I enjoyed this movie. Quite a bit, actually.Jena Malone is a great actress, and like another reviewer said, she's destined for truly great things. I think this film really showed that off. She's got a great talent that's barely been tapped, and I know that we'll be seeing her in other movies in the near future. If she's able to make a smooth transition into adult roles, I can see her as a leading lady in the not-too-distant future. The story about a teenage girl traveling to visit her father in prison for the annual picnic seems boring and uninteresting, but a great supporting cast and excellent direction makes it well worth watching.If you like indie films, this is one to check out.

TorX0029 "American Girl" is a wonderful movie about the girl Rena (played by Jena Malone from Donnie Darko) who lives with her family in a trailer. She has to hide when she's with her boyfriend so nobody sees him with her, and her father is in prison for life. After various attempts to kill herself, she decides to visit her father in prison to tell him the news: she is pregnant...The film is funny in a tragic sort of way, and it takes up some serious issues in life. Very recommendable.