Grade: B- | Genre: Drama
Summary: Overall, this is Claire Danes' film. She single-handedly transforms this piece into an intriguing watch from material that is fairly forgettable.

Freshman year of college, I had a rather sizeable crush on Claire Danes, or was it the character she played on My So-Called Life? It's hard to tell and funny how those things are pretty much inseparable at the time. Angela was the modern equivalent of Holden Caulfield, a square peg attempting to fit into a round world. She captured the heartache, exuberance and stifling existence of the teenage years in a way few actresses could. Its been ten years since My So-Called Life closed the doors on its solitary season, and in the years since, Claire has found herself much like Angela -- helpings of promise largely left unfulfilled. Chalk it up to choosing bum roles if you will or just not getting the choice scripts coming across her desk, but Hollywood has neglected this rare gem for much too long. Within the past few months, she's had two substantial roles (The Family Stone and Shopgirl) that have generated considerable buzz, bumping her squarely under that unaccustomed spotlight. Her work in Shopgirl is even getting her name mentioned as a potential nominee in the Oscar race for best actress. Truthfully, she's just giving us a look back at Angela Chase, swapping out the teenage angst for loneliness as the twilight of her twenties dim.