WRITE OF PASSAGE
This tale of a precocious teen battling to establish herself as a music journalist in London is good fun, but fails to make the most of a superb cast
ASCHOOLGIRL takes centre stage to smash glass ceilings in this spirited coming-ofage comedy drama based on journalist Caitlin Moran’s 2014 semi-autobiographical novel. Combining a down-to-earth approach with moments of whimsical magical realism, it’s amiable and amusing. But unlike it’s heroine Johanna, the movie is only modestly ambitious, with its success dependent on the performances, particularly of its lead.
Beanie Feldstein plays little more than lip service to the Black Country accent as she barrels her way through a performance as the working-class 16-year-old Johanna, an aspiring journalist living with her struggling parents and four siblings in 1990s’ Wolverhampton.
As I’m the sixth of eight workingclass kids from Middlesbrough, their noisy, overcrowded house and the casual violent abuse outside school ring very true.
As does Johanna finding out the London music industry is populated by condescending, misogynist, sexist posh blokes of little discernible talent.
Her new job at a prestigious music magazine leads to a personal reinvention but success depends on her compromising her integrity.
Instead of posters of pop stars on her bedroom wall, Johanna has Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Sylvia Plath and, er, Maria von Trapp, who come to life to offer advice.
It’s a lovely idea but sadly hugely underplayed, and far too little time is given to actors such as Michael Sheen, Gemma Arterton and Alexei Sayle.
Paddy Considine and Sarah Solemani provide strong support, and mixing with the fine cast are cameos from Emma Thompson and comedians Chris O’Dowd and Bob Mortimer.
Casting the American Feldstein in this very English film was presumably a commercial decision as we’re not short of talent this side of the pond.
But after appearing in teen movies such as 2017’s Oscar-nominated Lady Bird, and being Golden Globe-nominated for 2019 film Booksmart, this is another enjoyable turn in the construction of her impressive career.
■ On Amazon Prime now