By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Nicole (Kirsten Dunst, below) is a Bad Girl. We know this because she appears in a Hollywood movie with dirty hair, not wearing a bra and bounces from delirium to sulk in less than a scene. She's the daughter of a rich LA
congressman (Bruce Davison) and has an overly generous local chemist as well as the usual teenage recklessness.
Carlos (Jay Hernandez) is a Good Guy. He is a football star and a Hispanic who sits on a bus for two hours every day just to attend the privileged school that Nicole and her predatory circle take for granted.
Yes, you can feel the cliches tumbling from the screen, but there is a little more here than might be expected from such predictable material. It's mostly thanks to Davison, the father who knows his daughter is an obnoxious tart, who will make life hard for herself and anyone who comes into her sphere.
In fact, it could have been a much better movie: the original plot, which intended to show the consequences of Nicole's brattish behaviour, was left on the cutting-room floor because Disney demanded cuts to get a PG13 certificate for the mallrat audience. Who probably would have benefited from seeing the real story.
Rental video, DVD: Out today
Running time: 95 minutes.
