{"id":20447,"date":"2020-05-07T16:38:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T23:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20447"},"modified":"2020-05-07T16:38:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T23:38:13","slug":"how-to-build-a-girl-has-a-few-design-flaws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20447","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO BUILD A GIRL Has a Few Design Flaws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature from IFC Films debuts \u201con demand\u201d on various\ncable and digital platforms Friday, May 8th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you\u2019ve been watching movies for your entire life, it\u2019s\nrare to see something that really stands out as unique and completely fresh.\nThat\u2019s especially true with well-wore genres like the coming-of-age picture.\nFilms dealing with the struggles of growing up and finding your way in the\nworld are so commonplace that few truly make a lasting impact. The latest attempt\nis the UK production How to Build a Girl<\/em>. It follows a young woman\nstriving to become a famous writer and taking an unusual route to do so. The positive\nmessage is admirable and the film does have a few effective moments, but\nfeatures overly familiar story elements that viewers will recognize from\nstronger efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Johanna (Beanie Feldstein) is a square and nerdy 16-year-old\nstudent in Wolverhampton, England convinced she will eventually by a writer\ncomposing powerful, life-changing works. At home, she spends her time conversing\nwith tacked up pictures of inspirational historical figures (played by Gemma\nArterton, Lily Allen, Michael Sheen). Early public readings of her work land\nwith a thud, but she submits a contest piece to a music review publication that\npiques the interest of the staff. Actually, they think the entry is so odd that\nit might be a joke, but ultimately give her the opportunity to write concert\nreviews. She\u2019s a quick study and eventually convinces them to let her interview\nmusician John Kite (Alfie Allen), whom she immediately befriends. However, Johanna\nstill struggles to fit in. Her pieces become biting and critical, earning her\nsuccess but causing strife with just about everyone in her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Frankly, the story itself is similar to the phenomenal 2000\nfilm Almost Famous<\/em>, albeit with a gender swap for the lead character. That\npicture is an incredibly tough act to follow, but this title does offer a few\nchuckles early on as Johanna appears on a local TV state to read a bizarre\npiece of poetry written about a Border Collie. The story is set in the 1990s\nand the background music features some excellent tunes from the era as well as\nrecreations of club shows that are fun to witness. The movie is also chock full\nof cameos, with everyone from Chris O\u2019Dowd to Emma Thompson making memorable\nappearances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, despite all the great music there are elements that\nfeel a bit jumbled and ineffective. Johanna\u2019s quick transformation from\ninnocent teen with imaginary friends to a muckraker who enjoys wild parties\n(with other writers and not the actual bands, oddly enough) feels sudden and\njarring. The movie takes a more dramatic turn later as the lead acts out\ntowards her eccentric family and addresses her longing for musician Kite. That\u2019s\na potentially interesting element, but the story delivers nothing unexpected.\nAnd while some of the jokes earn a laugh, far more of them land flat. Even the\ntalking pictures of historical figures don\u2019t have much to say that is illuminating\nor funny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Perhaps the biggest complaint is that for a movie set around\nthe world of music and bands in the 1990s, there aren\u2019t a lot of personal interactions\nbetween the protagonist and famous onstage talent. With the exception of her\ntime with Kite, she doesn\u2019t spend much time backstage in the showbiz world. And\nbesides some brief references early on at the office, Johanna and her cohorts\nat the music publication don\u2019t end up discussing bands and albums nearly as\nmuch as they should for people who adore music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a handful of enjoyable moments on display, but\nthis feels more like a missed opportunity to delve into the world of music\njournalism. Sadly, it also doesn\u2019t compare with Almost Famous<\/em>, which\ndepicts very specific, relatable and authentic moments from the perspective of\na young writer out of his element. While moments in How to Build a Girl<\/em>\nmay strike a chord, there are design flaws, and pieces that should pull us into\nthis story and world appear to be missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature from IFC Films debuts \u201con demand\u201d on various cable and digital platforms Friday, May 8th. When you\u2019ve been watching movies for your entire life, it\u2019s rare to see something that really stands out as unique and completely fresh. That\u2019s especially true with well-wore genres like the coming-of-age picture. Films dealing with the struggles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,1012,1128,2397,4317,4660,6251,6944,8149,9416,9417,9418,11075,12409,13833,14425,14431,24516],"class_list":["post-20447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-alfie-allen","tag-almost-famous","tag-beanie-feldstein","tag-chris-odowd","tag-comedy","tag-drama","tag-emma-thompson","tag-gemma-arterton","tag-how-to-build-a-girl","tag-how-to-build-a-girl-movie-review","tag-how-to-build-a-girl-review","tag-journalism","tag-lily-allen","tag-michael-sheen","tag-music","tag-musician","tag-writer"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}