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| Shailene Woodley |
Growing up is hard to do. There's so much awkwardness that comes with being young and having to navigate the world around you. That is why it has been an endless well of great material for directors wanting to make provocative films over universal themes. For Gregg Araki, White Bird in a Blizzard is yet another contribution to this genre of films featuring Shailene Woodley in her most risque role to date. However, while the film masquerades as a trashy, offensive tale of family dysfunction, it still manages to feel almost too formulaic and familiar, which is a shame considering that the delightfully bonkers Eva Green is the mother figure and the plot itself leaves so much potential untapped.
The story follows Kat Connor (Woodley), a 17-year-old who one day discovers that her mother (Green) has disappeared. During interviews with a therapist, she reveals how sexually charged and promiscuous she was and how it turned off her mother. She is the typical rebel who wants to find her own personality while also wanting to find her mother. Along with some deviant relationships, this 80's narrative of a high school student manages to have the swagger, but is desperately lacking in the personality department. Her friends in particular feel like cliche stereotypes of the outcasts who will never have Kat's level of attractiveness. This is unfortunate given that a strong majority of the story takes place in the loitering conversations of teenage lust in basements and dance clubs while blasting familiar 80's music.
If there is one tragedy to the film, it is the script. While the story has enough ingenuity and plot twists to feature a resonant ending, it still comes at the expense of interesting character moments. Besides a dream state involving Kat in a field of snow, the film lacks a personality and any attempt to be clever is buried underneath a familiar sarcastic dialogue rich with bratty, sexual language. It isn't off putting, but considering that the 80's time frame never felt relevant to the atmosphere, the film masquerades in an indistinguishable time where identity isn't relevant. At best, audience members who cannot imagine Woodley getting naked and talking suggestively will have the shock appeal going for them. Even those who get a kick out of Green's crazy mother character will have some moments. However, the film is too bogged down in lack of personality and an excess of stilted dramatic staging.
This is all a shame because Woodley continues to be a compelling performer worthy of greater roles. While The Spectacular Now reflected her ability to play charming in one of the best coming of age stories this decade, she hasn't done much else as the typical teenager worth noting. Even the sex scenes, while more risque, feel like she has done them before. While Green is supposed to be absent for majority of the film, she doesn't always make her brief moments count. She yells and dresses suggestively, though this is buried under Kat's brooding story. The themes between mother and daughter are prominent and give the film enough context and quality to matter, though it's not enough to make it feel as special as the story should be. It isn't shocking nor alluring.
While the film overall may be forgettable save for it being Woodley's unimpressive transition into more challenging (read: sexual) roles in a time where Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars defines her as a young adult icon, it does leave enough of an impression to be good. With a lackluster soundtrack and indistinguishable sets, this is all on Woodley's performance, which has the familiar earnestness that makes her so likable. She will likely do better roles in the future. Let's just hope that along with her ability to control her sexuality with elegance that she will offer something more next time beyond the voice-over angst that saves the film and adds a touching cry to the final moments of the film.
White Bird in a Blizzard is a disappointing film when considering the talents involved. Where it could have been a wildly unhinged show-off of Woodley's explicit side, it instead feels tame and familiar. Even the reliably strange Green feels a little off. The entire thing has a lot of interesting moments, but none too distinguished to raise its level of shock or trashiness that is implied throughout the film. It works well enough in its 92 minute running time, but it leaves the viewer wishing that there was more, even in terms of exploring the mother-daughter relationship, which the film is dependent on. Otherwise, it is a fine movie with a fine cast doing just fine work.
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