the leading man is my tpye

Some things I liked some I did not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Betcha my bottom dollar (not that I have any) that Dominique Swain watched MY SO- CALLED LIFE. She channels Angela Chase in her movie GIRL (which I've only seen snippets of) and again, here in TART. She gives us teenage angst, a sense of desolation and despair, to perfection in this outing. And then there is Mischa, lovely as always, as the mean girl, and Bijou Phillips as the wild one.Problem is, what went into the mix, choice ingredients; but the cake turns out kinda bland. Many of the scenes are far-off, the entire movie is oddly distant. It could have been great, but whoever was at the helm, avoided that achievement skillfully.Is the movie true to real life, though? I have to concede, yeah. But real life is mostly about as interesting as closed circuit security monitoring on an uneventful day. The movie lacks zing. And please, if your idea of something controversial was the toilet + ice bucket scene, please keep it to yourself.The director also avoided a nude scene while delivering what the script described. The Bijou Phillips character was supposed to be dancing with her top off, instead it was filmed rather puritanically with just her jacket off. Yeah, that boy would rush out the way he did to go see a girl removing only her jacket. I'm pretty sure the script called for more, but bare flesh was circumvented (for whatever reason, lots of possibilities spring to mind).All in all, we the viewers, lost out on what could easily have been a much- better experience. This small-budget movie need not have cost much more in order for it to be great. Only a little bit more and it might have been something truly worthwhile. As it is, a weak botched attempt that only shows wasted potential.On their own, both Dominique and Mischa deserve much better scores. The vague lethargic storyline bogs them down completely. And the title of the movie would be off-putting to the intended audience, while the poster/box design hints at a sexy schoolgirl. Who is that on the poster/box anyway? Totally misleading.

For the first time in reviewing films, I found myself immediately uninterested in this story. I don't know if it was the way that it was filmed or the story behind the characters, but it felt bland, overused, and completely unoriginal. Within the first thirty minutes, I found myself rather apathetic with all the characters and the story. I felt as if I had seen this structure before, and Tart was providing nothing new to surprise me. After thinking that it may just be my mood, I stopped the film and chose to start it fresh in the morning, but the same feeling persisted. I just didn't care. That is not a good sign. The characters were bland. When I say bland, I literally mean that by watching them develop, you will never have any flavor hit your palate. The story seemed recycled, nearly to the point of plagiarism. Now, I am not saying that Christina Wayne stole this story, but she added nothing fresh to the perspective. The casting was horrid, the underlying symbolism and themes were so far lost that no critic could find them (nor the characters), and the stories were vague and sloppy. You knew nothing about anyone or anything, and instead of pushing more emphasis on the characters, we instead found ourselves with drugs, minor sex, and money pushed into our faces. These are themes we have seen in every film since the dawn of film time, yet somehow could not be creatively captured by Wayne.What immediately pulled me away from this story? It was mainly the characters. I have seen most of Brad Renfro's work, and honestly he needs to redefine himself. Director Larry Clark has defined him, and oddly he cannot get out of that stereotypical character. Within the first twenty minutes of Renfro's screen time I was bored. I knew exactly what he was trying to portray and why. It was spectacular nor impressive, just repetitive. He needed to bring some excitement or suspense to his role, instead of just blandly playing this random socialite. Without a strong character, the final climax of this film comes instead as a letdown. Renfro did not showcase the best of his abilities in this film. While I am on the subject … nobody showcased the best of their abilities. What is going on with Dominique Swain, outside of Lolita, I don't believe she has really emerged as an actress, and following-up with roles such as Cat Storm doesn't help. Bijou Phillips was the only actress that I witnessed actually try to bring something remarkable to the screen, sadly due to everyone else's horrid acting, she was lost. Rambling here and there, and honestly nearly forgotten about during the second act. Melanie Griffith was a pointless cast and most of this film's budget probably went to her TWO scenes that she was in. Maybe the rest of it went to the random guy from The Kids in the Hall, who desperately needs to place himself far away from this project.My biggest problem, outside of the acting, was the pacing of this film. Nothing, and this is hard for me to say, but nothing gelled together. There were so many sub-stories happening throughout the course of the film that no actual substance was formed. The robberies, the teenage "angst and woe", the wealthy socialites learning how horrible real life is, the random Kids in the Hall guy, and even the ending just felt rushed and horribly edited together. With this shoddy craftsmanship the whole story never really formed any true shape. Family structures were never defined, characters were never given any emotion, and all we are left with are bits and pieces of honest leftovers. Wayne did not complete the task at hand.While I hate to put the entire burden on the director, with this film I am left with little choice. With a horrid title that just screamed the complete opposite of what this film was about, with amateurish directional ability the cast pretty much was able to give every emotion in every scenes, leaving us with disgusting acting and poor developments, and with vague storytelling it is hard to place any "good" behind Tart. This was a film I had heard nothing about, and after viewing it I can see why. All Wayne has done with this film is random take excerpts from other films that have done a better job of defining all the elements above and cut all together to make the film Tart. It is hard for me to say this, but Wayne ruined this film. While I don't believe there was much to fully take from the story, any remaining elements of excitement were drained as Wayne took the helm. While most of the time you can credit some of the story, perhaps strong acting, or even the music, in Tart you can credit nothing. From the opening sequence until the end, I felt like I was swimming through very lumpy oatmeal. No consistency, no strength.Overall, this film is a waste of your time. If you are searching for some deep symbolic elements or possibly some banter on our society, you will not find it in this film. While I know that was what Wayne was attempting to show, the final product seems like it was edited on an Etch-a-Sketch. It was an embarrassing film to sit through, and encourage nobody to pick it up. Wayne threw to the wind all the teachings of her Columbia University education and destroyed two hours of my life. Avoid at all costs! Grade: * out of *****

SPOILERS!I gave this film 2 out of 10 for 2 scenes that I will never forget.....by the way, my husband rented this surprising non-blow 'em up almost chick looking flick...but I guessed why when I saw the cover....girls in school uniforms....duh....lol....ah well, men if ya can't beat 'em join 'em.....;-)Bijou Philips, one of my favorites on the indie screen...too cute......not only gets into bestiality (her toy dog is the best lesbian in town according to her bubbly outrageous character)..that would be the first worthwhile scene..Then she enters a restroom in a lovely gown & goes into a stall....after a bit she gets up, goes out to the party she & the pathetically sad 'Cat' character are at,& hands a shiny silver ice bucket to the host of the party...the host looks in her precious silver ice bucket and says, "oh my god it's poo."I love Bijou Phillips myself for her creativity and unusual movie choices, this would definitely be one of them....and um, I would rent it for the poo scene if I were you.....I am not a big poo jokes fan, but it definitely puts the 'party people' in their place (they didn't look like they were having a good time anyway.....lol)...You will never forget these two scenes...hmm, but is that what we want in our databanks?....Maybe you shouldn't follow my advice at all....lolDominique Swain is kind of squirrelly & sad in her confusing nonsensical role in 'Tart'. I don't know, I can't decide if I like her because she is so into indie films?? Indie films are awesome & all but couldn't she pick a few good ones? I am going to check out a few more of her movies and reserve judgment.... but this one was, (pardon the reference to beasts) a dog.....

Spoiler i loved this movie, i taped it before i went to work, because i thought that i would watch something when i got home, seeing as how it sounded interesting. when i got back from work, i turned on the television and pushed play, and for the next hour and a half, i was blown away. i loved this move. it was incredible. i noticed how most of you seemed to think that it was quiet lame, but i fail to understand why. this movie is for everyone. it expresses the facet that we all as people go through changes, trying to find where we fit in and how our life is. i thought that this movie did a very good job of portraying that. i especially liked the fact that cat's best friend was murdered by her lover. she was so interested in having better friends, but then she realizes that she wants to be friends with delilah, and she cant, and now her lover is in jail for murdering her. you only want something when it's gone, and then it's too late.