Product Details

• Actors: Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed, Jeremy Sisto, Brady Corbet
• Directors: Catherine Hardwicke
• Writers: Nikki Reed, Catherine Hardwicke
• Producers: Holly Hunter, Canada Johanna Gordon, Christina Sibul, Eric Fellner, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
• Format: Color, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Portuguese, Spanish
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 25, 2004
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (364 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00020HAJC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,837 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A gut-wrenching portrait of adolescence, Thirteen is made all the more powerful because it was co-written by a genuine teenage girl, Nikki Reed, who also co-stars in the movie. Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), a serious good student, finds herself needing to express her anger and resentment at her fractured family life. To rebel, she pursues a friendship with the reckless, alluring Evie (Reed), who seems to have all the cocksure freedom that Tracy desires. What follows is both harrowing and compelling: Tracy becomes enmeshed in a relationship with Evie that empowers Tracy and drags her deeper into the misery she wants to escape--and terrifies her mother (Holly Hunter), who struggles desperately to hold on to her daughter's love. Thirteen makes every step on this path utterly convincing, due to the vivid script, energized direction, and astonishingly alive performances from Hunter, Reed, and especially Wood. Jolting, sad, and mesmerizing. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

"Brace yourself" (Rolling Stone) for a raw, revealing insight into urban adolescence that's so intense and realistic, "it's possible to turn away (Interview Magazine). Anxiously trying to fit into the peer-pressure cooker environment of junior high, thirteen-year-old Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) goes to shocking lengths in order to befriend Evie (co-writer Nikki Reed), the most popular girl in school. Now the two are inseparable - and incorrigible - leaving Tracy's desperate mom (Academy Award winner Holly Hunter) powerless to rescue her from a whirlwind of drugs, sex and crime.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifyingly real..., January 29, 2004

By 

K. Corn "reviewer" (midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Thirteen (DVD)

The litmus test for the realism in this one - watched it with a group of 12-18 year old girls and they all said it reflected the reality of being teenagers, with all the actual pressures and stresses of their high school and social lives. This is, quite simply, one of the most honest (and painful) movies about adolescence that I've ever seen..and it was written by a teenager who also stars in the movie...amazing!
At the start of the movie, Tracy (played by Evan Rachel Wood) is a good student with a not-so-great family life. Her mother is struggling to put food on the table and under a lot of pressure to hold family and home together.
So it makes sense that Tracy would be drawn to "the coolest girl in school", Evie, a wild rebel with a penchant for danger. Evie gladly takes Tracy under her wings, often pushing her into Tracy into situations she isn't prepared for (parents should be aware that some of the scenes are graphic, including sexuality and nudity).
It is impressive that this film is so utterly believable and the sensational and often shocking scenes make sense in the context of Tracy and Evie's lives. Adding to the strength of this film is Holly Hunter's strong performance as a mother who is desperate to save her daughter but isn't quite sharp enough to find the right path. One of the best films of the year, bar none!

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thirteen as told by a thirteen year old, January 9, 2004

By 

jennifer lang - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thirteen (DVD)

While reading other customer reviews, I was stunned by the tendency of cynical college types to dismiss this movie as "eager to be hip" and "exploitive garbage". If one has not been through an experience, rejecting it when it is displayed must be easy. However, for those of us like myself, who are thirteen years old, this movie was shockingly real. And who better to be the judge of that than a thirteen year old, rather than a pretentious college student, now too cool to believe in teen "angst" as they call it.

Tracy's (the remarkable Evan Rachel Wood) descent into the world of drugs, casual sex, and smiling lies is a descent I have seen far too often in real life. Some reviewers were suspicious of the quickness of her progression into this world. However, one must remember that these are middle schoolers, not twenty-somethings, and the overwhelming insecurity of most 13 year olds allows them to change their images daily. Also, Tracy is not necessarily a "good girl" when the movie begins. She already smokes, and seems to feel stuck in her life both at school and at home. This is evident in scenes she shares with her friends, and a particular scene with her mother (Holly Hunter in an incredible performance), where despite her best efforts, Tracy cannot get the attention she needs from her mother, who is wrapped up in most aspects of her own life, especially romantically.

Thirteen is not for those who wish to shut their eyes to what is truly happening to our culture and society. However, I would recommend that every parent see Thirteen with their child to know the reality of the environment their child is growing up around. If you are a parent, do not believe for a moment that the experiences of Tracy are experiences that take place everywhere else. Whether you know it or not, this movie does indeed hit close to home.

A few more notes before I end this review. Evan Rachel Wood deserves an Oscar for her harrowing performance as Tracy, Holly Hunter is better than I have ever seen her, and Nikki Reed is inspiringly truthful in both her writing and her performance as a character she had not intended to play. Catherine Hardwicke, as the director, uses her own emotions and vibrant colors to convey the truths hidden behind the masks each character wears. The obsessive need of the two girls for each other, as a replacement for lack of love in other aspects of their lives, is perhaps the most honest part of this movie.

Whether you enjoy it or not, Thirteen is a movie that must be seen. More than a social commentary, Thirteen is almost a mirror of reality.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT...SORT OF, February 6, 2004

By 

Shanea "existenceseven" (VA Baby!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thirteen (DVD)

Tracy is a sweet yet troubled teen who meets the alluring bad girl Evie and falls into a life of drugs sex and crime but this is not some dreadful after school special version of teen issues with cute and tidy resolutions. Thirteen is a bold, gut-wrenching film about the crumbling American family and the current generation of overexposure, MTV, reality shows, and disillusionment. Tracy is astonishingly portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood who gives such an amazing performance it should take child-acting to new heights. Evie is portrayed by Nikki Reed (who also co-penned the script) is a vibrant screen newcomer. The Oscar nominated Holly Hunter ,as Mel, is brilliant as a bohemian, alcoholic single mom who watches her daughter Tracy descend into self-destruction right before her eyes. The director Catherine Hardwicke directs the film with relentless, edgy appeal giving the film it's power and drive.

Although most critics give the film massive acclaim, some have shuddered at the shocking horror of the explicit nature of the teen lifestyles of Thirteen and many perhaps deny the possible accuracy of the film. "Are kids really that bad?" No, not all kids are drug-users dealers hypersexed or criminals but one must admit with a generation raised on MTV and Hollywood scandal , where many kids have to go to school in fear if their classmates may kill them, a generation where many believe oral sex isn't as intimate as kissing, or being a "pimp" or a "thug" is the true aspiration of life...the mood of the film is an unflinching cinematic opus to a generation sadly spiralling out of control.