WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

lazarillo As a young lad, I often fantasized about attending an all-girl boarding school in New England, or maybe someplace in Europe. However, there was always one obvious obstacle to my dream. One minor character in this movie has overcome this obstacle--he gets to attend the titular all-female institution because he is the head-mistress' son. The MAIN characters in the film though are four girls--three long-time school chums and a childhood friend of one of them, who transfers to the school and serves as kind of a catalyst for all the melodrama that follows.There IS a goodly amount of melodrama--two of the girls get involved with older men. One (Brie Larson) flirts with her English teacher (Chris Kattan) mostly just for her own amusement, but ends up inadvertently causing great problems between him and his sexually frustrated fellow teacher/wife (Amy Sidaris). The other girl, the main protagonist (Rooney Mara) embarks on a much more serious affair with an expectant father (Tom Everett Scott), who happens to be married to her mother's best friend. A third girl has questions about her sexual identity. But perhaps the most troubled girl is the newcomer (Georgia King) whose obsession with cutting herself and history of suicide attempts are the result of childhood trauma that is alluded to early on, but not revealed until the end.Let me say first off that if the very many high-school age girls looked like Rooney Mara and Brie Larson, pretty much all adult heterosexual men would be in jail right now. But this movie was directed by two women, so it never really veers too much into exploitation territory. This would not necessarily be a liability if it worked better as a straight drama, but all the characters remain undeveloped as individuals and never really gel as a group. The movie also really tries to cover too much in 90 minutes, going into the lives of all four girls AND several of the adults (particularly the two teachers played Kattan and Sedaris). It's hard to fault any of the actors here though. Rooney Mara, for instance, would go on to play another sexy schoolgirl in "Youth in Revolt" before hitting the big-time with the US version of "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo". She's achingly lovely in this movie, but--like everyone else--not a fully developed character you can care much about. Her character is kind of indicative of the whole movie--very pretty, but somehow not very substantial.

gradyharp TANNER HALL is like a very interesting puzzle delivered to the audience in pieces so disconnected that we never get a final reward form the completion of the puzzle. Written and directed by newcomers Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana von Furstenberg it has a script that seems to want to be embellished or at least reinsert what seems to be like fragments of a longer film that still dwell on the cutting room floor. But for what it is, it is an entertaining stage for the presence of some very fine actors about whom, despite the shred of information about each, we learn to care.Tanner Hall is an all girls (with the exception of the Head Mistress's son Peter as played by Ryan Schira) somewhere in New England: the stately buildings are crumbling just like the lives of the girls who study there. Fernanda (Rooney Mara sans piercings and tattoos!) relates the story by remembering a time in her childhood when her friend Victoria (Georgia King) committed an act of meanness - allowing an old lady's pet parrot to escape. Hold that thought.At the school Fernanda, Kate (Brie Larson) and Lucasta (Amy Ferguson0 are best friends and when Victoria is dropped off to yet another new boarding school by her abusive mother she joins the clack. From this point the entries into love, alienation, mischief, decisions about sexuality, and adultery color the fragments of the film. Gio (Tom Everett Scott) is married and expecting a baby but falls for Fernanda and the two have a challenging relationship. Lucasta must face her conflict as to her needs and rebuffs physical advances form delivery boy Hank (Shawn Pyfrom), and Kate flirts with teacher Mr. Middleton (Chris Kattan) married to the sex obsessed and frustrated Mrs. Middleton (Amy Sedaris). Victoria is left yearning for the world of relationships to make sense but not finding the path. There is the beginning of a storyline as the girls escape confinement with Victoria's theft of a key, but that eventually goes nowhere except fizzle.The themes of the film have been used before - and will be used again: girls becoming women is a never ending source of story material. The aspect that makes this little film shine is the presence of the fine acting of Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Brie Larson, and Amy Ferguson. They are a pleasure to watch perform. Grady Harp, March 12

Greg W. Locke We, the 99.9 percent of the world that wasn't in attendance at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, have to consider the recent DVD release of Franny Gregorini and Tatiana von Furstenberg's gal drama, Tanner Hall, the film's public debut. So, despite being a movie filmed in late 2008 and not going public until late 2011, this super stylized drama is a 2011 film, and one of the most surprisingly fulfilling watches we sat for all year.Staffed with a cast of A-level young talent (led by Rooney Mara, Georgia King and the sizzling Brie Larson), this New England boarding school ensemble flick rolls through scenes with no clear cut story arc, instead playing through as a glimpse into the lives of a group of A-level teen girls going through the way crazy stage of puberty, full blast. Pure fire.We see details of relationships morphing when the new girl, Victoria (King), arrives and fearlessly stomps her way into the pack or sisters. The crew's soul captain, Fernanda (Mara), is the most powerful and interesting character, and she's brought to life with grace by the Girl With the Dragon Tats herself. It's a performance that could've maybe even been considered legendary, had only Tanner Hall been treated as a major release. Mara's moves are so good that we have to assume this was the film that helped David Fincher find his new discovery.Imagine if Sophia Coppola rewrote the Little Women script for John Hughes in the late 80s and you'll have a good idea of the haunting appeal that is Tanner Hall. As far as film art and storytelling goes, this is one of the great surprises of 2011. An incredible mix of design, writing and performance. Better late than never.

John Raymond Peterson The storyline that goes something like…A coming of age story of teen-age girls in a preppy boarding school, and the R rating, had me believing there would be sex involved and some nudity, which similar basic plots usually have. It was a somewhat serious story, the way it unfolded and how it was written; the script had some narrative that sounded at times more like 'monologuing' than narrative, but it's okay, though I prefer narrative to be more traditional. Of course, I was right about the nudity and the sex, but it did not feel exploitive. The lead, Rooney Mara was twenty four when the movie was made and so playing an 18 year old was sort of a squeeze. She delivered what I think the role called for, but needs to improve her diction by enunciating (something the director should have corrected); I find the near mumbling unacceptable for a lead actor, even if it's not constant. Exception for Nick Nolte who does it on purpose for effect. I trust Mara has had better direction in her massive new role as the new Lisbeth Salander; she was much better in Social Network.Anecdotally, I think I noticed a slight barely perceptible squint/cross when Mara was looking to the side. Rachel Weis use to have that when she stared directly at co-stars (it has since been corrected apparently) and I find that gives a certain allure, a wile one might say; it's the minor imperfections that attract us to some people more than others I once read.None of the principal actresses played characters which had a joyful or happy life. The boarding school for well to-do young girls was their home. There was a narrative line by Mara I will hopefully recall when I need it, because it was a simple but perfect description of the school and also made for a good metaphor… "Tanner Hall is majestic but crumbling". Given the building's size, architecture and age, this was the best and most fitting description.The other three close schoolmates were also attractive. Only two characters had sympathetic roles, Mr. Middlewood, played by Chris Kattan, and Hank, played by Shawn Pyfrom. Kattan had a more important supporting role as a literature professor; I think he was picked because his character was one who was seriously being teased for arousal by one of his student, Kate played by Brie Larson, and also by his wife played by Amy Sedaris. The Middlewoods attempt at sex was a riot; without them the movie would have been a little too boring for me. The affair between Mara and Tom Everett Scott, who played Gio, was so predictable in all aspects that I found little interest in it. You might want to pass on this film; I watched it all because I have an appetite for quantity almost as much as I do for quality. You would want to see it if you watch an inordinate quantity of movies, otherwise pass.