Speak movie review

Aslı Özoğuz

12.02.2013

IB1

Word Count: 448

                                                                    SPEAK UP

Are you a teenager who is just silent? Who keeps EVERYTHING inside? Then you should absolutely watch this movie!

 Recently I watched the movie “Speak”. It’s based on the award winning novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. The movie is about a teenager- just like any other teenage movie it’s completely stereotypical. The main character, Melinda, is a lonely and depressed 13 year old girl.  However as you watch the movie you’ll understand that Melinda has a different problem than any other teenage girl.

Genre

This movies genre is drama. Personally I prefer adventurous action movies over depressive teenage movies. This movie doesn’t have any sort of action in it, except the part where Melinda gets attacked by a guy (I’m not going to tell who so I don’t spoil it for you!) but it only lasts for 30 seconds. It’s a very simple and plain movie. Even though it’s a slow movie, it sure makes you think.

Plot

This movie is basically shows what most teenagers go through in their first year of high school. Melinda is an outcast. She is isolated and lonely, like most teenagers. However Speak is not the typical teenage movie. There is a reason why Melinda is treated that way and you will be shocked when you learn it.

Setting

Speak is set in an extremely stereotypical American high school where they celebrate ALL of the holidays (like thanksgiving, Christmas, valentine’s day…). Also just like any other high school movie the kids are divided into groups (like kids who do sports, cheerleaders, popular kids, nerds, people who want to be popular…). I am really sick of watching these types of movies because I know what to expect. There is always an outcast who wants to be a part of a friend group and so on. Speak is exactly like that.

Actors

The main character Melinda is played by Kristen Stewart. I really hope that just for once she plays the part of a positive and happy human being like Pollyana or something. I don’t think she would be able to pull it off though. She really has only one facial expression. However this expressionless character suits Melinda perfectly. So actually she did a good job in capturing the character of Melinda Sordino.

Conclusion

Even though all the minor mistakes, this movie conveys an important message which is to SPEAK. Talk about your problems, don’t hide it inside. I bet lots of teenagers would relate to this movie. As we all know teenagers don’t generally tell their issues to their friends or families. They just keep things bottled up inside. Generally I think it’s an inspiring movie.

 Written by: Aslı Özoğuz

Rating: 3.5/5