The Girl Is in Trouble

Name: The Girl Is in Trouble
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Released: April 3, 2015
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 55

2015

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Girl Is In Trouble

Now Playing: The Girl Is In Trouble

Movie Details & Credits

E1 Entertainment Distribution | Release Date: April 3, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: A failed Lower East Side DJ struggling to keep his life together becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer, and the scion of a powerful investment firm.

Director: Julius Onah

Genre(s): Thriller, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Ernest Hardy

Mar 31, 2015

Sampled old newsreel and security-camera footage flesh out the narrative, and the film's visually arresting, but it's the performances that hold it all together. Read full review

Sara Stewart

Apr 1, 2015

Though Valderrama gives a standout performance as the avenging Angel, brother of the late Jesus (Kareem Savion), two smaller roles are also worthy of note: Paz de la Huerta as a spacy bartender at Pianos, and J. Bernard Calloway as Dre, a bouncer who’s seen it all, and who can be reliably found eating a healthy salad as he sits outside his nightspot. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Apr 3, 2015

It’s tightly directed and well-performed, particularly by Columbus Short and a career-redefining turn from Wilmer Valderrama. If anything — and trust me when I tell you this is the opposite of most independently produced noirs from debut directors — there’s an overabundance of ideas in The Girl is in Trouble, sometimes to a distracting degree. Read full review

Sheila O’Malley

Apr 2, 2015

Though the film gets more banal as it reaches its climax—most viewers will have seen it all before—Onah creates refreshing space around these familiar stories and themes. He has a wonderful sense of style and movement, and he isn’t afraid of a story’s personal elements. He goes after them. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

Apr 2, 2015

The story has plenty of possibilities, though Onah rarely manages to put his own stamp on things. Read full review

Frank Scheck

Apr 2, 2015

Unfortunately, despite displaying an admirable stylistic ambitiousness and excellent use of its NYC Lower East Side locations The Girl is in Trouble never manages to feel like more than a strained, modern-day pastiche. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Apr 7, 2015

A textbook noir premise gets an overamped and undercompelling treatment in The Girl Is in Trouble. Read full review

SEE ALL 9 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Positive:

User Reviews

quincytheodore

Apr 7, 2015

There's a good noir plot set in concrete jungle, though it’s also buried deep beneath excessive narration and exhaustingly slow pace. It's rare to see a movie character utters this quantity of monologue, The Girl Is in Trouble might just beat Sin City for time spent narrating. It starts offThere's a good noir plot set in concrete jungle, though it’s also buried deep beneath excessive narration and exhaustingly slow pace. It's rare to see a movie character utters this quantity of monologue, The Girl Is in Trouble might just beat Sin City for time spent narrating. It starts off well, cinematography is sleek for urban setting, the earlier scenes are intriguing and actors' performances are admirable. Sadly, the persistent rambling plods the pace severely, not to mention it tries to switch back and forth through different timelines and perspectives, even those of unnecessary characters.

August (Colombus Short) has experienced strings of unfortunate events, though they pale in comparison when he finds a snuff video on the phone of Signe (Alicja Bachleda). Situation gets worse as the persons on the video are tied to wealthy company and gangster. The actors do a fine job, they fit their roles very well. Colombus Short is presentable as the lead, he also narrates most of the movie, this part can be annoying though it's mostly the fault from the script.

Jesse Spencer as Nicholas, the rich guy and Wilmer Valderrama as Angel, the brother of a missing drug dealer perform their bests. They deliver a sense of dread and cunning nature in tandem. While most of the cast mainly dabble in TV shows, the acting department is very solid. Camera work highlights the ambiance of the street and this is particularly useful on creating the gangster or crime thriller atmosphere.

Narration pretty much hampers the entirety of the movie. August just won't stop blabbering. It seems he's psychic as well because he knows the most intimate moments of others. He is also historian, since he gives lecture about immigrants and history of the district. This goes on until the end, he even manages to cover that one friend from social media or that one lesbian fling. All of this with sudden shift in timeline and useless trivia.

The audiences will be most likely numbed by the constant jabbering before it reaches the climax. Nevertheless, the lively feel of the city and its occupants are good enough to overcome the distracting narrative, barely.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS