The Still Point

It's hard to see where the $260,000 budget went on this very patchy coming-of-age drama. The film, written by director Boyd-Anderson together with the film's producer, Rosa Colosimo, explores the usual themes of the genre via the story of Sarah (Nadine Garner), a socially-isolated 15 year old deaf girl and her difficult relationship with her divorced mother (Lynn Semmler).

The film has some strengths, particularly when it concentrates on the mother-daughter relationship, with a strong performance by Garner, making her film debut (as also was a spotty Ben Mendelsohn), as the troubled teen, although incongruously her deafness never seems to have much impact on her.  It is considerably less effective when it comes to handling Sarah's relations with a group of older teens when on a seaside holiday. Out-of-the-blue a relationship starts up between her and the good-looking male of the group (Steve Bastoni) and this raises the ire of his shrill ex-girlfriend (Kirstie Grant) and the thoughtless cruelty of her equally brainless friends. Throw in Boyd-Anderson's indifferent direction, wooden dialogue and acting, awful 80s costume design and matching soundtrack and this must be deemed, sad to say, a lack-lustre production.

 

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