Really Surprised!

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

You know, this movie was actually not that bad. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it's watchable. I'm not a fan of Kristen Steward, but she was well-suited for the role. I would even go as far as to say that it is her performance that "carries" the movie.I haven't read the book, so I'm just judging this as a stand-alone movie, and, as such, it's not half as bad I thought it was going to be. Maybe it's because my expectations weren't very high to begin with...I do, however, believe that the current IMDb rating of 7.8 is just ridiculous. This movie deserves a solid 6.0, but not over that, honestly.A good movie. Definitely worth watching, but a bit overrated if you ask me.

Wow! I just found out that today, January 20, 2014 is the 10th year anniversary of the release of this fine movie by Showtime. I really love this movie and have watched it numerous times.The actress Kristen Stewart shines in it.The main character is a young teenage girl named Melinda Sordino. Sordino is Italian for " mute," and Melinda can mean, among other things,a Linden tree. Ironically, the quasi "mute" Melinda is the very person doing all the narrating throughout the movie. A poignant story of a teenage girl's ordeal and recovery. Many other character's in the movie have similar type names, for example; Heather is a friend that unfriends Melinda because Melinda is too depressed. And Ivy who unfriends her because of a misunderstanding. In fact, Melinda refers to cliques as "clans" which is from the Latin for sprout.And the author Nathaniel Hawthorne is mentioned in her English class and Hawthorne is a hedge bush of the rose family.Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter is mentioned as being full of symbolism.Which this story seems to also be full of.I can't figure out why the author,Laurie Hals Anderson, of Speak uses so many horticultural references.But interestingly enough,right after Melinda is sexually assaulted by Andy,who is a popular teen, Melinda stays in his Jeep Wrangler after he leaves her. She looks through the windshield as she's weeping and sees a large majestic tree. Is the tree a " mute witness" to the crime?" We see the rape in a series of flashbacks by Melinda.Later on, when she begins her freshman year at Merryweather High, her lovable bohemian art teacher, Mr. Freeman, instructs the class to pick a slip of paper out of a damaged globe that will have their year long art project on it. Melinda picks one that has the word " tree." She tries to put it back but Mr Freeman says not to because that is her " destiny, you can't change your destiny."Also, she turns inwards and starts to cut class and hideout in a utility room at her school.And then she, like the trees and shrubs around her, starts to recover after the cold winter and she finally begins to regain her strength and courage. This may explain why the author used the tree as a symbol for Melinda.The story line does not suffer from several plots interweaving like we see so much of but rather all the focus is on this young teen and her nearly year long recovery from her trauma.She befriends a very nice classmate named Dave Petrakis. Perhaps more symbolism here because the name Petrakis refers to a rock or maybe even a bedrock. And he is supportive of her while never really knowing what happened to her.The cast is finely tuned and hums like (fill in your favorite set of wheels).Kudos to the composer Christopher Libertino for a fantastic musical score. His use of a chamber orchestra and piano near the end takes that scene to lofty heights.Happy 10th Year Anniversary, Speak.

Speak is the movie that gave the illusion Kristen Stewart was a good actress. It is a poignant and look at a traumatized girl with elective mutism.Melinda Sordino (Kristen Stewart) is a normal, happy fourteen-year-old about to start high school. But one night at a party something horrible happens to her, and she calls 911 to ask for help. Unable to find her voice, she hangs up and the police come to the address and bust the party. The already traumatized Melinda is labeled a "Squealer" and loses all her friends, becoming a pariah as she enters high school. In light of the painful event and the fact that everyone hates her, Melinda decides to stop talking. While her parents (Elizabeth Perkins & D.B. Sweeney) seem oblivious to her depression and withdrawal, Melinda finds solace in her caring art teacher Mr. Freeman (Steve Zahn) and outspoken classmate Dave Petrakis (Michael Angarano). Through her year long assignment of drawing trees, Melinda tries to heal from what happened and speak again, while slowly revealing to the audience what changed her life.The story is solid, and it was a very good adaption of the novel. The book put a lot of focus on Melinda's artwork, and it is even more powerful to see it on screen. Kristen Stewart performs well in this film, probably because her flat affect and often blank expressions fit so well with the character. She does well with the few lines within the film itself, and an even better job of narrating it. Kristen narrates with an air of pained dissociation, which rings very true for anyone who has or works with people suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress. There is also a heartfelt performance by Steve Zahn, as the only adult who reaches out to Melinda and gives her exactly what she needs—a tool to process her emotions. So good it will make you overlook the Twilight series!

Speak is a Movie about a 14 years old girl which was raped by his senior in a Party and after that incident she does not speak much. Kristein is fabulous in the movie, At this much age she performed too good. Movie shows School life, Friends, teenage life. Kristein's Eyes speak too much in spite of she don't speak much. We can understand everything what she wants to tell or how she feels. Movie tells us that children need attention, may be they don't speak about their problems but we have to make sure that kid doesn't feel any problems with life. Director knows how to show this kind of child's life, He put every effort to make Kristein's character much valuable. Screenplay is notable, it takes you to the every aspect of the character. One should watch the movie to see Kristein's performance and kind of different story that you can feel inside your heart. A perfect kind of teenage movie You should not miss.