Early Jennifer Lawrence role, she is superb in this gritty and mostly ugly film.
There is a place in the small Iowa community called the "poker house." People of all kinds, but mostly black, congregate in this smoky place for poker, alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. Not a very pretty place, visually or morally.Jennifer Lawrence was about 16 or 17 during filming, all in the Chicago areas, and she is the main character Agnes who is 14. She and her two younger sisters mostly have to fend for themselves, their mother (Selma Blair, almost unrecognizable) is never fully sober and even if she were does not seem to have any "mothering" skills. Agnes is actually the surrogate mother for the two younger ones. Agnes is also bright, makes straight A's, writes poetry about her gritty life, and is the star basketball player for the school team.
So this is her story, about how she manages to stay above the grime and eventually carve out a better life. Jennifer Lawrence even at her young age is simply superb in her role as Agnes. It was also nice to see Chloë Grace Moretz in an early role as Agnes's little sister Cammie.
SPOILERS: In a good role for him, Bokeem Woodbine is Duval , basically Agnes's mom's pimp. But he also takes a liking to Agnes, they spend long scenes kissing, and her voice-over tells how much she likes his lips. Agnes is young and not wise to the real world, and she thinks he loves her. Then one day of kissing leads to rape. She is shocked, she gets in the tub and washes herself frantically. All trust has been betrayed, but she pulls herself together to go late to the game but plays and scores to erase a large deficit and win the game. The rape was her wake-up call, it influenced her to care for herself and make a career for herself.
score /10
TxMike 23 February 2013
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2758134/35102
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