Audience Member
Apparently, I am the first to review this film on flixster. Interesting. This Canadian film above all pushes the emotional heart strings on so many levels. I loved the pacing, music, cinematography and the performances here are flawless.This is a rare classic in the making that needs to find it's audience. Not exactly the happiest of film, though.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
BY PAMELA DE GRAFF
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011010"><img src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011010_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<B><I>CRACKIE</I> (2009)</B> Independent, Canadian,
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: SHERRY WHITE
FEATURING: Mary Walsh, Meghan Greeley, Cheryl Wells,
Joel Thomas Hynes, and Kristin Booth
GENRE: DRAMA
TAGS: chick flick, gritty, disturbing
<B>PLOT:</B> A disadvantaged teen copes with spiritual isolation amid destructive influences in a poor, rural hamlet.
COMMENTS: Living with her crude, cantankerous grandmother, 15 year old Mitsy wants the hell out of her sleazy Newfoundland town. And with good reason. The place is pretty "rustic;" remote and depressing with no opportunities. Most of the people in Misty's life are professional losers, and her absentee mom Gail is a callous, cold-hearted whore. Literally. She's the worst mother in the world, right after Cal Trask's repellent monster mom in <I>East Of Eden</I>.
Gail takes money from Mitsy and thinks of her the same way a crooked carnival barker regards a sucker. Mitsy's creep boyfriend offers to let her perform oral sex on him as if it's some kind of privilege. At cosmetology school, her snooty, disapproving classmates grumble when she enrolls there. Mitsy's only worthwhile friend is a her little adopted dog, or "crackie" in the regional slang.
Despite her circumstances, Mitsy is resilient, but bright and sensitive enough that it's a tragedy life finds her where she is. The way Mitsy relates to her little dog Sparky reflects her shifting emotions. Her relationship with Sparky is like a barometer of her evolving maturation.
Viewers who were moved by the 2009 <I>Fishtank</I> will find <I>Crackie</I> to be a close parallel. In both films, the teenage girl protagonists are plagued by poverty, broken homes, stupid, chauvinist loser boyfriends, discordant, dysfunctional families, amoral mothers, and soul-crushingly bleak prospects.
Stark, depressing surroundings and mean, callous personalities cheapen the nature of existence and degrade the human condition. A morose sensibility prevails. Misty, like Mia in <I>Fishtank</I> dreams of getting out, far, far away, to bootstrap her spirit up to some modest ledge above the common rubble of everyday banality.
<I>Crackie</I> is an accurate depiction of personal realities we would rather not consider. It is very sad, but it's not tragedy, and it's not designed to deliberately manipulate one's emotions like a tear-jerker. Nevertheless, I cried, not just at the end, but part way through as well. This kind of movie is well suited to those of us perverse enough to want to subject ourselves to upsetting, grim material. Maybe the reason I couldn't look away was because the writing was so skillful it forced my empathy for the characters. I took a genuine interest in them. I had to see what would happen.
The performances in <I>Crackie</I> are quite skilled, and far more credible than the corny, over-acted stereotypical caricatures I see being portrayed by established Hollywood screen names. Frankly, the best acting I've observed lately is to be found in some of these better independent films. Hollywood thinks that it is the end-all and be-all of the cinematic crafts. After being awestruck by my viewing experience of watching <I>Crackie</I>, that idea just makes me laugh!
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011011"><img src="http://content9.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011011_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011012"><img src="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011012_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<div style="width:120px;font-size:10px;text-align:center;"></div><a href="http://www.flixster.com/videos?videoId=11145230"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vz3OwSiNvo8/0.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style="font-size:10px;width:120px;text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"><I>Crackie</I></a> - trailer</div>
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011010"><img src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011010_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<B><I>CRACKIE</I> (2009)</B> Independent, Canadian,
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: SHERRY WHITE
FEATURING: Mary Walsh, Meghan Greeley, Cheryl Wells,
Joel Thomas Hynes, and Kristin Booth
GENRE: DRAMA
TAGS: chick flick, gritty, disturbing
<B>PLOT:</B> A disadvantaged teen copes with spiritual isolation amid destructive influences in a poor, rural hamlet.
COMMENTS: Living with her crude, cantankerous grandmother (Wells), 15 year old Mitsy (Greeley) wants the hell out of her sleazy Newfoundland town. And with good reason. The place is pretty "rustic;" remote and depressing with no opportunities. Most of the people in Misty's life are professional losers, and her absentee mom Gail (Walsh) is a callous, cold-hearted whore. Literally. She's the worst mother in the world, right after Cal Trask's repellent monster mom in <I>East Of Eden</I>.
Gail takes money from Mitsy and thinks of her the same way a crooked carnival barker regards a sucker. Mitsy's creep boyfriend (Hynes) offers to let her perform oral sex on him as if it's some kind of privilege. At cosmetology school, her snooty, disapproving classmates grumble when she enrolls there. Mitsy's only worthwhile friend is a her little adopted dog, or "crackie" in the regional slang.
Despite her circumstances, Mitsy is resilient, but bright and sensitive enough that it's a tragedy life finds her where she is. The way Mitsy relates to her little dog Sparky reflects her shifting emotions. Her relationship with Sparky is like a barometer of her evolving maturation.
Viewers who were moved by the 2009 <I>Fishtank</I> will find <I>Crackie</I> to be a close parallel. In both films, the teenage girl protagonists are plagued by poverty, broken homes, stupid, chauvinist loser boyfriends, discordant, dysfunctional families, amoral mothers, and soul-crushingly bleak prospects.
Stark, depressing surroundings and mean, callous personalities cheapen the nature of existence and degrade the human condition. A morose sensibility prevails. Misty, like Mia in <I>Fishtank</I> dreams of getting out, far, far away, to bootstrap her spirit up to some modest ledge above the common rubble of everyday banality.
<I>Crackie</I> is an accurate depiction of personal realities we would rather not consider. It is very sad, but it's not tragedy, and it's not designed to deliberately manipulate one's emotions like a tear-jerker. Nevertheless, I cried, not just at the end, but part way through as well. This kind of movie is well suited to those of us perverse enough to want to subject ourselves to upsetting, grim material. Maybe the reason I couldn't look away was because the writing was so skillful it forced my empathy for the characters. I took a genuine interest in them. I had to see what would happen.
The performances in <I>Crackie</I> are quite skilled, and far more credible than the corny, over-acted stereotypical caricatures I see being portrayed by established Hollywood screen names. Frankly, the best acting I've observed lately is to be found in some of these better independent films. Hollywood thinks that it is the end-all and be-all of the cinematic crafts. After being awestruck by my viewing experience of watching <I>Crackie</I>, that idea just makes me laugh!
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011011"><img src="http://content9.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011011_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<div style="width:250px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/crackie-14011012"><img src="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/14/01/10/14011012_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"></a> </div></div>
<div style="width:120px;font-size:10px;text-align:center;"></div><a href="http://www.flixster.com/videos?videoId=11145230"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vz3OwSiNvo8/0.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style="font-size:10px;width:120px;text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com"><I>Crackie</I></a> - trailer</div>
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Purposely dim, understated, awkward, and unpleasant, yet heartfelt. Ultimately proves to be less inspirational than hoped for in part because we don't fully understand the character's motivations, thought they are well acted.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
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<img src="http://www.swgc.mun.ca/releases/PublishingImages/crackie_01.jpg" width="240" border="0"/>
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
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