Now here’s a teen sex movie that’s just a bit different from the usual American Pie-style shenanigans. And while it’s hard to argue that the events that unfold at this film’s all-girl boarding school are more common in the real world than the silliness we see in a teen sex comedy, it’s easy to conclude that there’s a heck of a lot more honesty here than there is there.
The events that unfold in Lost and Delirious are primarily viewed from the perspective of teenaged Mary (Mischa Barton), a new kid at school who’s been sent away by her widower father and his new wife. The quiet Mary – known to family and friends as ‘Mouse’ – has the fortune (good or bad is hard to say) to be matched up with roommates Paulie (Piper Perabo looking and acting a whole lot different from in Coyote Ugly) and Torry (Jessica Pare). These two – Paulie in particular – are the rebellious life of the school. They are also lovers.
Although Mary is an interloper, Paulie and Torry welcome their new roomie, and the three are soon confiding in each other. Each has plenty of issues, including a big one with her mother: Mary’s died three years ago; Torry’s is overbearing and insincere; Paulie’s gave her up a day after she was born.
Lost and Delirious chronicles the struggles of these three ‘Lost Girls’ – nicknamed for Peter Pan’s Lost Boys – as they struggle with their ‘mother issues’, their sexuality, love, rejection, obsession and social pressures. The film’s main conflict occurs when Paulie and Torry’s secret relationship becomes challenged by fear, shame and the social appeal of being with a guy rather than a girl. Mary is witness and confidante to both roommates, and Barton’s performance – although by far the quietest of the three – is the foundation upon which the film is built. The 14-year-old Barton says more with her eyes than most actors her age do with their whole bodies. Her sweet and steady performance is an essential counterbalance to some of the others, especially Perabo’s. As the Shakespeare-reciting jilted one, Perabo’s overwrought emotion might seem excessively theatrical, except for one thing – real-world teenagers have been known to be overwrought. Paulie is highly emotional, but not unrealistically so. And Pare, although not tested as much as her co-stars, also earns respect for her portrayal of a young woman torn by conflicting social pressures.
The key to this film’s success is the emotional credibility that’s created by these performers, a decent script and steady direction by Lea Pool. There are times when the emotion doesn’t make it to the screen as the filmmakers likely intended – and when that happens, the movie slips into melodrama – but most of the time it does work. A movie containing this much honesty deserves to be forgiven for its weak moments. They may make Lost and Delirious less than an overwhelming success, but it’s still touching and troubling, and amounts to much more than the average portrayal of teen angst.
Less than an overwhelming success, but it’s still touching and troubling, and amounts to much more than the average portrayal of teen angst.- Brian Webster
