Review of The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Must-see?--shouldn't that mean it's relatable? This coming-of-age tale is well acted and well written but its core is applicable to no one I've ever known in my life, so I had the feeling of watching an alien species: the sort-of-caring but ultimately disengaged and self- destructive mother, her sexually desperate daughter, the moron/predator boyfriend of both. After appalling adventures and misadventures, the boyfriend is bounced and mom and daughter forgive one another just like that. I'm always suspicious of movies (like this one, like Dancing at Lughnasa and Mermaids) that end with women who have seen and done terrible things to each other end of joyously dancing to ecstatic music: it's the filmmaker's cop-out instead of a real resolution. The ex-husband is played by Christopher Meloni, whom I've seen only in Special Vic Unit and never cared for. Still, he's paid his dues and he's insulted here with nearly zero screen time in an essentially meaningless role. Too bad.