Depressing. The trailer showed all the funny scenes. We had the impression it was a comedy. The teacher was the best character in this film.

The problem with this film is the main character. She's not very likable. The performances were great, but we simply don't root for the main character. She's an annoying teenager, a bit on the neurotic side, without any real problems. The ending felt forced like the director HAD to redeem her somehow. I was expecting an R-rated John Hughes film and left extremely disappointed. Bummer.

poor

Like the byline says, I often found myself thinking, during the movie, "...is it over yet?" I only stayed because I hoped that the film might redeem itself, somehow, in the end. It almost tried to do so.My only hope for this movie is that similarly self-centered, mindless, ignorant, petty children will look into the mirror of this whiney main character and realize that they, too, need to change. But the movie offered no real redemption.The main character Nadine wants intimacy and to be known, but thinks of that only in terms of sexual acts - and then is disappointed when she is taken at her word. She recognizes that there should be more mystery to sex, but the only way she imagines it might be "spiritual" is if it is witnessed by the aquariums of fish? Steinfeld did at least render the screenwriter's work believably - I've not seen other work by her to know if she is a gifted actress or merely typecast.Nadine is wise to reject and be revulsed by her mother's vain and empty conclusions about life, but there are no alternatives presented. Her father's input cemented her in her childish and inappropriate paths - did he really intend to teach his child that farting and over-eating solved problems? And that is someone we should wish were still an influence in her life? The writer does create an abysmal scenario.Although I appreciated Harrelson's character's choice to shield his apparently healthy and satisfying personal life from Nadine, his words toward her are anything but kind and certainly unwise. It is all played for laughs, but any professional educator would have handled her outbursts differently. Suicidal thinking in teenagers really should not be played for punchlines.Darian and Erwin, and perhaps even Mr. Bruner, seem to be beacons of hope in this miserable universe. They seem to have figured "it" out, but what "it" is and how to emulate "it" is never explored in any depth or detail. Which is why I was left feeling not "I get it!" but "Is it over yet?"