Hey queer girls, you ever have that one straight friend who absolutely sucks and you’re like, “oh straight friend, I so wish I didn’t have a hopeless crush on you”. If so, All Over Me is about you. But, it’s not necessarily for you because it isn’t that good. Beyond that, it isn’t really relevant to experiences 20 years after it was made.
All Over Me is about Claude who is discovering her sexuality and frequently gets embroiled in her straight friend Ellen’s messy life. That’s the whole plot. Ellen makes bad life choices or bad things happen to her and Claude follows behind in her wake, ready to pick up the pieces, hoping for some shred of affection. Eventually, Claude realizes this is not a good life choice. Instead, she begins to focus her energy on a cool, rocker chick who is actually romantically interested in her. Good job, Claude!
While I applaud this film’s use of realism in regards to its characters and conflicts, All Over Me suffers because it goes too far. The dialogue oversteps realism into being boring an aimless. Frankly, teenage girl conversations are not that interesting. Unfortunately, that’s what a lot of this movie is- realistic teen girl conversations. This script really could have used another round of edits and for someone to ask, “yes, but what is the point in this line of dialogue?” In the iteration we got, it felt too much like they were just filling screen-time with the minutiae of uninteresting characters.
Additionally, All Over Me seemed to be a very trendy movie in 1997. But being trendy also means that someone seeing this in the future e.g., 2019 will find it dated. And I did. I’m not old enough to remember 1997 which is unfortunate because this movie is so very 1997 that I think you need some understanding of the year to fully enjoy it. I don’t have that and so All Over Me didn’t connect. It’s not a timeless film by any means. It’s aggressively of its time which limits its appeal for someone watching it in later years.
That’s sort of it on my thoughts for this movie. While I think that Claude’s character will be relatable for a lot of queer female viewers, it doesn’t save the fact that this isn’t a particularly good movie. All Over Me feels ultimately aimless. If I wanted something as boring and messy as real life, I’d go live mine. But if I’m staying in on a Friday night to watch a movie, I’d prefer it to have at least an artistic overlay of reality to make the damn thing worth watching.
Overall rating: 5.5/10
Having an unrequited crush on your straight best friend
Movies set in New York
i mean i would still call this film a lesbian cult classic being that it was Leisha Hailey’s first breakthrough role, and she got to play a spiky haired punk lesbian Which for me makes it worth the watch
I saw this recently and was about the same age as the characters in 1997, and while I got a twinge of nostalgia, I didn’t really enjoy this movie. Too much cringe and too predictable. I think your rating is actually quite generous.