Trust
3.5/4
Starring: Liana Liberato, Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, Jason Clarke, Chris Henry Coffey
Rated R for Disturbing Content involving the Rape of a Teen, Language, Sexual Content and Some Violence
The beauty of this film is that director David Schwimmer takes his time. He doesn't rush things and makes sure we understand and know the characters and what drives them. Without that, the film would turn into a "tearjerker of the week" worthy of Lifetime. But with a subtle and non-exploitative touch, Schwimmer turns this film into an honest and perceptive look at something that, sadly, happens more often than we would like to think.
Annie Cameron (Liberato) is a normal 14-year-old girl. She has a few friends, but longs to be popular and have a boyfriend; she probably reads too many teen magazines and watches too many "Twilight-ish" movies, although this isn't delved into. Her parents, Will (Owen) and Lynn (Keener) love her dearly, and she is close with her older brother, Peter (Spencer Curnutt) and younger sister, Katie (Aislinn DeButch). On her birthday, Will gives her a new computer, and shortly thereafter, she meets a guy in California named Charlie. He's in high school like her, plays volleyball and is very cute. But Charlie is not as he seems. He is actually a 35 year old man (Coffey) who continues to manipulate Annie and then rapes her at a hotel. The news is crushing to her parents, and all three of them struggle to make sense of what happened.
The performances are strong across the board. Liana Liberato, a young actress of a few TV credits, is superb. She's a completely normal teenager, which makes it easy for us to accept her as a real person and believe what she does. She denies what happened to her was actually rape, but Liberato understands that this is a lie. She alienates everyone and her relationship with her parents fractures in a believable way. Clive Owen is also very good as the father who can't believe that his daughter would do something like this, and as a man who wants revenge. His anger at "Charlie" is consuming him so much that he is unable to help his daughter heal. Catherine Keener is just as strong as Annie's mother, who doesn't know how to help her daughter. The three of them form a believable chemistry as parents and daughter; they function as a normal family. Will isn't a drug/alcohol addict, Lynn isn't neglectful. They're normal, affluent people. Viola Davis, who can do almost anything, gives the second strongest performance after Liberato. She plays the rape trauma counselor, Gail Friedman. She's seen this too many times, but is there for Annie because she understands what she's going through better than her parents.
The weak link is, I think, Coffey. His whole sequence doesn't work as well as the rest of the film, although it took me a while to figure out why. "Charlie" is creepy in the sense that we know he's bad news, but he's not convincing enough in person for us to understand emotionally why Annie would go with him. Mentally, we do, because he has already manipulated her completely, but Coffey's performance doesn't plunge deep enough to make this convincing.
Comparisons to "The War Zone" are, at least for those who have seen it, unavoidable, although they're altogether different movies. They both deal with the same material, but in different ways. "The War Zone" demands that the viewer fill in the blanks and interpret what's going on themselves. "Trust" is more straightforward. It's still incredibly powerful because it is so perceptive. It knows how people react in this kind of a situation. The instinct is to blame someone, anyone, but as we learn, things aren't that simple. Annie is still refusing to believe the truth about what happened because it avoids the pain and continues the fantasy that "Charlie" loves her. Will and Lynn are in disbelief that this could happen to their daughter.
David Schwimmer is most popular for playing Ross Geller on the hit TV show "Friends." But like Tim Roth, the actor who directed "The War Zone," he is also a born filmmaker. He is skilled at introducing the characters and setting the stage. There is one scene that is, well frankly, brilliant. Without any audible dialogue, Schwimmer gets us into the mindset of Annie and how she feels. She's waiting outside of school for her mother to pick her up, and she sees all the popular girls saying hi to their good-looking boyfriends. Annie has a kind of huddled look about her, looking both jealous and lonely. It is here that we realize how desperate she wants attention from a guy, and how easy it will be for someone like "Charlie" to prey on her.
I also have some misgivings about how the way Schwimmer chooses to end the film. It's not that it doesn't work, it does, but it's that the final clip over the end credits isn't earned. The ending scene sets up a hopeful, if not happy, ending, but Schwimmer backs off, choosing a rather cheap twist (although it's not really that).
The MPAA gave this an R rating, which makes sense, I guess. This is not an easy film to watch and is quite disturbing. However, I think this is one of those exceptions where it is an ideal film for teenagers. It shows what can happen if they're not careful. Parents, however, especially helicopter parents, might end up coddling their kids. And, as Dr. Friedman says (but no one pays attention to), "People get hurt. There's only so much we can do to protect ourselves, our children. The only thing we can do is be there for each other for when we do fall down to pick each other up." No other words define this movie.
Starring: Liana Liberato, Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, Jason Clarke, Chris Henry Coffey
Rated R for Disturbing Content involving the Rape of a Teen, Language, Sexual Content and Some Violence
The beauty of this film is that director David Schwimmer takes his time. He doesn't rush things and makes sure we understand and know the characters and what drives them. Without that, the film would turn into a "tearjerker of the week" worthy of Lifetime. But with a subtle and non-exploitative touch, Schwimmer turns this film into an honest and perceptive look at something that, sadly, happens more often than we would like to think.
Annie Cameron (Liberato) is a normal 14-year-old girl. She has a few friends, but longs to be popular and have a boyfriend; she probably reads too many teen magazines and watches too many "Twilight-ish" movies, although this isn't delved into. Her parents, Will (Owen) and Lynn (Keener) love her dearly, and she is close with her older brother, Peter (Spencer Curnutt) and younger sister, Katie (Aislinn DeButch). On her birthday, Will gives her a new computer, and shortly thereafter, she meets a guy in California named Charlie. He's in high school like her, plays volleyball and is very cute. But Charlie is not as he seems. He is actually a 35 year old man (Coffey) who continues to manipulate Annie and then rapes her at a hotel. The news is crushing to her parents, and all three of them struggle to make sense of what happened.
The performances are strong across the board. Liana Liberato, a young actress of a few TV credits, is superb. She's a completely normal teenager, which makes it easy for us to accept her as a real person and believe what she does. She denies what happened to her was actually rape, but Liberato understands that this is a lie. She alienates everyone and her relationship with her parents fractures in a believable way. Clive Owen is also very good as the father who can't believe that his daughter would do something like this, and as a man who wants revenge. His anger at "Charlie" is consuming him so much that he is unable to help his daughter heal. Catherine Keener is just as strong as Annie's mother, who doesn't know how to help her daughter. The three of them form a believable chemistry as parents and daughter; they function as a normal family. Will isn't a drug/alcohol addict, Lynn isn't neglectful. They're normal, affluent people. Viola Davis, who can do almost anything, gives the second strongest performance after Liberato. She plays the rape trauma counselor, Gail Friedman. She's seen this too many times, but is there for Annie because she understands what she's going through better than her parents.
The weak link is, I think, Coffey. His whole sequence doesn't work as well as the rest of the film, although it took me a while to figure out why. "Charlie" is creepy in the sense that we know he's bad news, but he's not convincing enough in person for us to understand emotionally why Annie would go with him. Mentally, we do, because he has already manipulated her completely, but Coffey's performance doesn't plunge deep enough to make this convincing.
Comparisons to "The War Zone" are, at least for those who have seen it, unavoidable, although they're altogether different movies. They both deal with the same material, but in different ways. "The War Zone" demands that the viewer fill in the blanks and interpret what's going on themselves. "Trust" is more straightforward. It's still incredibly powerful because it is so perceptive. It knows how people react in this kind of a situation. The instinct is to blame someone, anyone, but as we learn, things aren't that simple. Annie is still refusing to believe the truth about what happened because it avoids the pain and continues the fantasy that "Charlie" loves her. Will and Lynn are in disbelief that this could happen to their daughter.
David Schwimmer is most popular for playing Ross Geller on the hit TV show "Friends." But like Tim Roth, the actor who directed "The War Zone," he is also a born filmmaker. He is skilled at introducing the characters and setting the stage. There is one scene that is, well frankly, brilliant. Without any audible dialogue, Schwimmer gets us into the mindset of Annie and how she feels. She's waiting outside of school for her mother to pick her up, and she sees all the popular girls saying hi to their good-looking boyfriends. Annie has a kind of huddled look about her, looking both jealous and lonely. It is here that we realize how desperate she wants attention from a guy, and how easy it will be for someone like "Charlie" to prey on her.
I also have some misgivings about how the way Schwimmer chooses to end the film. It's not that it doesn't work, it does, but it's that the final clip over the end credits isn't earned. The ending scene sets up a hopeful, if not happy, ending, but Schwimmer backs off, choosing a rather cheap twist (although it's not really that).
The MPAA gave this an R rating, which makes sense, I guess. This is not an easy film to watch and is quite disturbing. However, I think this is one of those exceptions where it is an ideal film for teenagers. It shows what can happen if they're not careful. Parents, however, especially helicopter parents, might end up coddling their kids. And, as Dr. Friedman says (but no one pays attention to), "People get hurt. There's only so much we can do to protect ourselves, our children. The only thing we can do is be there for each other for when we do fall down to pick each other up." No other words define this movie.
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