Review for Very Good Girls

Very Good Girls is a film about innocence, love, family and finding out about yourself and what matters the most. When Lilly and Gerri both fall for the same guy (after going skinny dipping) they find themselves both obsessing over him. The stranger, David, chooses Lilly and they embark on a relationship, but both do not tell Gerri who now still thinks he is single and available for her. This leads to Lilly having to choose between her best friend and her new love.

Tragedy strikes in Gerri's family and this becomes an even more troublesome problem and it could lead to Lilly losing both relationships. Throughout they grow in their endeavor to lose their virginity before going off to college or whatever the next steps are going to take them.

This film is possibly one of the blandest films I have ever seen. I can understand that the main point was to look at innocence or the loss of it, but this film was so generic that it could easily have been cobbled together from twenty other similar romantic films. I would be surprised if anyone can remember anything that happened in this film and even if they did, it is probably because (as one of the observing guys on the beach says) Olsen has an amazing behind in the skinny dipping scene. 

The acting by Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen is fine, but the problem is there is simply nothing for them to work with. These are two fine up-coming actresses who simply look like they are just going through the motions. This could also be said about every single person in this film. It is almost sad that there are many high-calibre stars in this film such as Richard Dreyfuss, Demi Moore and Ellen Barkin and every one of them look like they are putting no effort into their performances.

One of the major problems with the film is that at a little over ninety minutes there is simply not enough time to connect with anyone or anything that happens. Even just a few extra scenes with Lilly and Gerri to show why their friendship matters would have helped no end. When the 'tragedy' happens it is not shocking (other than the fact that it happens) and because you have no time to connect with any of the characters it is simply meaningless. With a little extra time, or possibly a few less long establishing shots set to music, it would have helped this film mean something or at least be a bit more enjoyable.

It is possible that if you like typical romantic films like Beaches or My Girl then you might like this or at least find it watchable. However, if you like your films with a bit more edge you will find little on offer in this film. It may be called Very Good Girls, but that doesn't make it a Very Good Film.