Paleo Retiree writes:

Very enjoyable small-scale independent teen noir from 2007, played for straightfaced intensity rather than exploitation or yuks. Jonathan Tucker is an arty richkid screwup who’s drawn to Nikki Reed, a dark-haired, witchy charmer from the wrong side of the tracks. Which lover is more in charge of the relationship? Which one can go farther than the other? Darned-good-scene follows darned-good-scene.

The film features a more-than-adequate plot; a fun and game cast; a lot of wickedly self-interested, amoral characters; a shrewd understanding of money, privilege, and class (especially about how the privileged prepare the next generation); and an effectively eerie and sexy mood. It belongs in the same bin as such kids-acting-like-grownups pix as “Brick,” “Cruel Intentions” and “Wild Things.” If it lacks those films’ glossiness and camp, it features loads of determination, psychology, and conviction in their place. Written and directed by Rochester, NY’s Nicholas DiBella, and shot in HD in and around Rochester by an almost-entirely-Rochester-based crew, it’s a very effective and resourceful suspense picture with many poetic and daring touches. “Cherry Crush” left me feeling upbeat, and not just because I enjoyed it as a movie. It also made me feel optimistic about something many filmbuffs have dreamed about: the possibility of a genuine regional feature-film-making culture taking shape. Power to the provinces, baby.

Related

• The movie is available on Netflix (though not as Instant View — you’ll have to order the DVD). Amazon Prime members can watch it for free.
• Fabrizio blogged about “Brick.”
• Blowhard, Esq. loved a memoir by crime writer Charles Willeford.