ALARM bells should start clanging the minute poetry is read aloud in a movie.
But "Blue Car" overcomes this initial "uh-oh" moment ("I am the disease that rots the bark of the trees," the young protagonist intones solemnly) and settles into an unflinchingly honest coming-of-age portrait.
Possessing something of the dreaminess that suffused "The Virgin Suicides" and last year's "Swimming" with an inner glow, writer-director Karen Moncrieff's deliberately paced debut - a hit at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival - profits from top-notch performances across the board.
Chief among these is an outstandingly intuitive turn by newcomer Agnes Bruckner. The camera loves her expressive brown eyes and bow lips and, as the Lolita-like high schooler Meg, she hits just the right note of coltish sensuality.
See nypost.com for full review.
