FLASHDUNCE.......ELLE FANNING RESCUES "TEEN SPIRIT"

Teen Spirit (2018)     First time writer-director Max Minghella should get down on his knees and bow three times in Elle Fanning's direction........(wherever she might be)

                      At least three times a day.........

                       Fanning, playing a shy, disaffected teen who dreams of 'American Idol'-like singing fame, takes all the scraps of Minghella's cinematic noodling and single-handedly turns his random MTV crap into a movie.......

                        Minghella must have studied "Flashdance" (1983) as if it were the subject of his doctoral thesis..........the skimpy, sketchy writing, the music video editing. the slick camerawork at the expense of telling a coherent story......

                        It's all in place here and rendered extra rotten by the impenetrable cinematography, which makes the whole movie look like its taking place in a sporadically lit electronic dance club.

                       Take heart......Elle Fanning shines like a lighthouse beacon in this sea of poorly written, poorly shot, half-baked tripe.

                       She's luminous, heart-tugging and a force to be reckoned with. as her character amps up enough courage to enter "Teen Spirit", a U.K. televised singing competition. Amid the wreckage of Minghella's worthless, negligible script and direction, you can't take your eyes off her for a second.

                      Not that he deserved it, but Minghella got a bonus gift the "Flashdance" filmmakers never enjoyed.....since they had to substitute a real dancer for Jennifer Beals at the film's big finish.
To his everlasting good fortune,.....Elle Fanning can sing up a storm.

                       And does she ever. See for yourselves.

                      The rest of the movie?  Barely worth discussing.  Minghella creates a mentor-coach for Fanning, a washed-up, broken down Croatian opera singer (Zlatko Buric).  But his spitball script never fleshes out this character, who's alternately creepy and kindly, depending on what scene he's in.......(we're supposed to like him when he cautions Fanning about signing a contract with a rapacious record executive, even though earlier in the film, he tried hoodwinking her into a 50/50 split of her future earnings......this gives you an idea of Minghella's complete incompetence)

                       This film stumps me on how to rate it.........given the huge gap in quality between the the lead actress and the film itself.

                        Well, what the hell. It's my blog and I can damn well do what I want. So here's two separate ratings........for Elle Fanning, 4 stars (****)........for the woeful "Teen Spirit" that she's forced to carry on her shoulders, 1 pathetic star (*)    Probably 2 stars if you want to average it out, but BQ says only Elle makes it worth watching at all.....