I can certainly understand Anne Hathaway wanting to shed the image of The Princess Diaries.
Bijou Phillips, on the other hand has to rid herself of Bully. I can't say either made a particularly good choice with this movie.
Phillips made a step up perhaps in that she didn't take her clothes off quite as much. But her character was actually even less developed this time around than she was in Bully, if that is even possible. Hathaway, meanwhile, actually had what was perhaps an interesting character, but it seems about the only compelling reason to see this movie is the fact that she's not the little princess any more. As it turns out, that's not enough.
The girls and their friends have had enough of their high school and decide to rough it by venturing to East LA, where they meet real gangsters, and fall rapidly into the apparently interesting lifestyle that awaits them. They even get so wrapped up in this game they are playing that they ask to join the gang, which requires them to have sex with members of the gang.
When they come to their senses and recognize that this is akin to an orgy, they quickly call foul and attempt to have the gangbangers arrested for attacking them. At this point, Hathaway has some bizarre morality check and tries to get her friend to recant her story - mostly because their boyfriends, who are most definitely wannabe gangsters, have taken up guns in order to defend their honor and are only too likely to get slaughtered when they go to East LA. And with that, the movie ends. Frankly, it's a little disappointing.
It could have been interesting, but it seems like the banked on the fact that Hathaway was breaking out of her mold and that's it. If you want to see kids who just don't care, see Bully instead. This one is just a rambling mess. At least there you see the logical conclusion of such actions.
Rated R for language, nudity, sexual content, drug use and some violence.
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