New Waterford Girl (1999)

Seen: On dvd on my tv, rented from netflix.

A lady at work recommended this to me and I'm so glad she did! Setting the typical girl-coming-of-age story in a small rural town in Novia Scotia, New Waterford Girl is a quietly funny glimpse into one over-intelligent outcast's teenage experience. Moonie Pottie (Liane Balaban) is a clever high schooler who dreams of escaping her somewhat gloomy hometown, with a supportive but deadbeat English teacher (Andrew McCarthy, with sideburns) who sends her writing to programs in faraway cities with the hope she'll be able to transfer. Her parents worry she isn't "normal" enough like her social sisters and peers, and force her to see a psychiatrist. She devises a plan to establish a reputation as a "loose" woman, hoping it will make her seem more conventional, and eventually befriends new neighbor Lou (Tara Spencer-Nairn), a tough New York transplant who soon gains a reputation of her own as a vigilante hired to punch asshole ex-boyfriends.

Combining humorously disdainful narration and a likable cast, New Waterford Girl is down-to-earth and appropriately understated, though the plotting is a bit scattered. It doesn't have much of a focused narrative thread, taking a slightly episodic approach and only incorporating certain characters at spaced-out intervals, to the point of under-using them. I was happy to see Cathy Moriarty as Lou's mom, but she's only in two scenes, and Andrew McCarthy, loath as I am to say it since usually I am against him in anything, could have been in it a bit more since his washed-up teacher was interesting but not very fleshed-out, despite having a defining moment in the story towards the end.

Minor encumbrances aside, I really enjoyed this movie. Liane Balaban looks exactly like if Natalie Portman had played Winona Ryder's role in Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, and I adored her loose-fitting sweaters and long black skirts and dour expressions, it's totally the kind of late 20th century teen angst I love. She is funny but also a bit tragic as her control over her fate slips away, and Balaban is aptly carries the film. Her cohort Lou is played with gusto by Tara Spencer-Nairn, embodying the tough-talking, lonely girl with exactly the kind moxie I appreciate: punching moxie. Seriously, by the end there's like a Girlfight situation happening and I was so happy.

While story-wise it isn't the strongest, the script is funny and the central characters are very well delineated, as is the small town environment of the title. In many ways the community is a character itself, with aspects of religion, insularity, and loyalty coming together in various interactions with townspeople, especially other young women. And everything/one looks so wonderfully 1990s, which we all know is probably my favorite thing.

4/5

Pair This Movie With: There are a few coming-of-age movies that came to mind. The fake sex thing reminded me of Easy A, while the super 90s-outcast thing reminded me of the aforementioned Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael. Also, Me Without You is an interesting study of a female friendship that might pair well, though it's more dismal.