This coming-of-age drama might trade in familiar narrative developments, but its characterization is rather nuanced.
As Cool as I Am
How do you grow up when your parents haven't?
2013 · 1h 32m
Comedy, Drama
Directed by
Max Mayer
Overview
A smart teenage girl comes of age in a small town with her self-centered parents who had her when they were teenagers.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Simplistic plotting, pedestrian visuals and poorly-handled melodrama do lend the project a cheap, made-for-TV feel, which is underscored by the fact that Danes and Marsden don't seem obliged to turn in their best work.
Oh no: Claire Danes as the mom? Already? What's next, Chelsea Clinton for president?
It is as if chunks of the film had landed on the editing-room floor in a desperate, last-minute attempt to trim its length. Just when its parts should come together, "As Cool as I Am" crumbles to bits.
Mayer doesn't find a way to make the ritual traumas of adolescence feel new again.
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