Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Man, putting that title on a marquee is going to be a fascinating experiment in tolerance towards artistic expression. That’s not an easy word, and it’s not going to be easy for some people to see that when it’s highly unlikely you’d ever see the title NIGGER on a marquee now or CHINK or SPIC. It’s just not going to happen.

But this one’s still acceptable. Right now. In the year 2008. It’s acceptable because of where we are socially in our relationship with the Middle East and the people from that region.

And it sounds like the film is incendiary on several levels:

Sat through the first showing of "Towelhead" at Sundance on Sat night and wanted to say a few words on the film since I hadn't seen any reviews up on your site for it yet. Though this isn't really a review (more of a few comments on the film) I am a first time writer so go easy on me. You can call me beatrixkiddo10. Here Goes:

"Towelhead" is the type of movie that's subject matter should leave you with a sick feeling in your stomach, but actually has you leaving the theater with a smile on your face. There is a lot of sexual content in the film (so much so that a few couples actually got up and left about 20min into the film), but it is done with taste and is needed to give the audience the emotional roller coaster that the film is. This movie has the same feel as much of Alan Ball's work does. You feel sad, then happy, then angry, then uneasy, then happy again. I left the theater loving the movie, but now that it has been a few days, I realize that what I saw was even better than that. It's one of those that stays with you for days and I think that the performances from the actors are the reason for that. the movie is very well written and has Alan Ball's witty dialog all throughout, but if you couldn't relate to the characters I think it would have been a different movie altogether.

For those that do not know anything about the movie, here is a brief, spoiler free, synopsis on the film. A young pubescent 13 year old Lebanese girl is sent to live with her super strict father. This girl can't seem to catch a break. Whether it's her parents' shortcomings or racism at school, or the confusion from new sexual awakening that she is going through. This film is about the adventure of a young girl becoming a mature woman, but having nothing but immature examples surrounding her. I don't want to give anything away, but, much like American beauty, this film shows you the beauty that is you can still find in a world of ugliness.

Like I said earlier. The performances are incredible. If I had to say one stood out, it would have to be Peter Macdissi who plays The girl's father. For those of you unfamiliar with him, he played Claire's bisexual college art teacher in Six Feet Under. He was great but despicable in that series. In this, again, he plays the villain you love to hate. he is sooooooooo good in this!!! He is racist, and jealous and angry at the world but truly does love his daughter so much. He is one of those characters that is so bad , you can't help but laugh at all of the horrible things he says and does. Dark comedy at it's finest. The young girl Jasira is played by a newcomer. Summer Bishil. She is very natural. in fact my wife (who watched the film with me) could relate to almost every expression and reaction this girl had to the feelings she was having as she went through these changes. Aaron Eckhart is back to playing the Sundance creep. He plays Jasira's married neighbor who is fighting sexual demons of his own and has taken notice to jasira's sexual changes. I remember reading an interview done with Eckhart where he said that after the screening of "in the company of men" at sundance years ago that women would come up to him on the street and slap him because of the part he played (love that movie by the way). The creep he plays in this movie is different though. He is a creep but you are almost sympathetic to him. He does a great job! There are also great turns by Maria Bello as jasira's mother and Toni Collette who is always spot on.

If you haven't been able to tell already. I loved this movie and would have to say that I loved it more than anything else Alan ball has done, though, I have to say that my opinion is a bit biased. I am a huge six feet under fan and did love American beauty. This movie hit me much harder though. It was very realistic to me and that is what always gets me. Realism , whether, beautiful or ugly, and this film does that at it's finest. Thanks for reading. I may write one more time this week. We are going to see Hell Ride on Thursday!! Hell Yeah!!

Beatrixkiddo10