Yes, I'm late to see this movie but oh well...

Just wanted to know what you all thought of it..?

It was kind of shocking.. and in some ways a younger trainspotting

While I give kudos to the acting by Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood, I thought the film itself quite unnecessary and repellant. And enough of the herky-jerky hand-held camerawork already. Jeez! It is so damned annoying. I just rented "Pieces of April," and that film has the same type of camerwork. Why? I don't see where it adds anything to the film, except motion sickness for some who view it. I thought that technique worked very well in only two films: "The Blair Witch Project" and "City of God."

I haven't seen Thirteen, but I agree with Tarnower's opinion regarding the current camera-man-on-Earthquake-Pills™ trend. Nothing makes you more concious of the fact that you're watching a movie, which is the exact opposite the cinematographer's aim.

Agree with Tarnower. In fact, I couldn't get through it. And I wanted to based on the reviews of Bernardelli and Ebert. But I thought it sucked.

AFA the acting? Fine. I couldn't get into the film.

The acting was fine and I thought Holly Hunter was amazing, but overall the movie just did so little for me. After it was over, I turned off the DVD player and never gave it another thought. It really seemed to me that the movie was made with the whole idea being to scare the crap out of parents with kids who are in their early teens. Just never connected with me I guess, except for Hunter's great performance.

It seemed to me to be a portrayal of "what is really happening with todays youth," except I must question how many this is really a reality for. Not far removed from that generation, I guess I was just too into video games and school at that age. "Thirteen" seemed young, maybe "sixteen" would have been better. It also seemed to roll up a multitude of problems into one child, sure scared me from ever having a daughter. I guess its plausible, but I agree with those that say it seems its intended to scare parents.

can I have your copy then?

I agree with most on this thread. Pretty good acting, but the movie isnt very good. One thing I dont get with these type of movies is how it is touted as a realistic look at life. When it truly isnt. I can say I grew in environment similar to this and other movies along these lines, and I always find movies on this subject matter to be quite lacking in "realism".