Picture Day

Oh..another little treasure I found while out shopping for something else. Sure its a very obscure indie film and yet it is a gem of a movie to find.

Its a Toronto based film about Claire and Henry. Clare is caught between a rock and a hard place of sorts. She's failed twelfth grade and has to repeat it. She's also found a so called rockstar that might be too old for her.

There is Henry who just started high school. He might be a genius. Maybe even autistic. Maybe not.

Anyway, Claire used to babysit him when he was little, and he looks for her picture on the school wall of graduates, but its not there. Naturally, he remembers her, but she's a little shocked that the kid she used to babysit now smokes pot.

So a new friendship begins. Hanging out together at school when she isn't off in another world with this so called musician.

Claire is an after thought to her mother too who rarely keeps track of her. Naturally, Claire has a reputation, but Henry doesn't seem to mind and she's there at school trying to improve Henry's chances in making friends, even getting the girl.

However, Claire dyes Henry's hair on picture day. She also spread the rumor that Henry's tried to kill himself and he's a drug dealer.

Of course, its a hard reputation for Henry to live up too. Yet, he's pretty good with chemistry.

Even so, this new life that Claire is taking him down the path on, doesn't always meet parents approval. And Claire doesn't always have that much fun with being a band groupie, either.

This movie is about friendship and intimacy. Its about growing up and moving on, too.

I love Tatiana Maslany as Claire in this film. I'd never seen Spencer Van Wyck in anything but Degrassi. He was perfect for this part.

Storyline: Claire Paxton is a rebellious and independent late teen, her outlook on life which is driven largely by the fact that her single mother is a self absorbed alcoholic. Claire is repeating some of her senior year classes at Toronto's Arthur Meighen High School in order to graduate, which she decides to do during the school year rather than waste her precious summer doing it in summer school. She has little motivation to attend classes or graduate. Her school year is affected largely by her encounters with two males with who she ends up spending much of her time. The first is Jim, the thirty-something front man for the funk band, the ElastoCitizens, with who she embarks on a sexual relationship. The second is Henry, a ninth grade student who she used to babysit. Henry is an exceptional student, but is at a stage in his life where he too is starting quietly to rebel against his straight-laced upbringing. Claire acts as his mentor in his coming of age, which may change if she knew that ...

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