7/27/2023 0 Comments Dominique swain tart![]() ![]() Her supposed beau, William, is reprehensible (he prepares to throw her down a garbage chute, when he thinks she’s just ODed), coming off as nothing but a degenerate junkie who deserves what he gets at the film’s conclusion. Cat communicates in monotone, never becoming excited about anything, which makes it hard to figure out if she is ever getting what she wants (or if she knows). ![]() And the central players are the least involving of the lot. Characters cross paths so often during the film’s 92 minutes that their names become difficult to remember, as do their relationships to each other. Add to all of this Cat’s hypochondriac little brother, Peter (Myles Jeffrey), her alienation from her mother Lily (Alberta Watson) and one-time confidante Delilah, Cat’s shame at being Jewish, Delilah’s alienation because she’s Jewish, William’s eventual murder of Delilah, and a grating faux-British accent from Mischa Barton (as rich-girl, Grace), and you’ve got one hell of a mess on your hands.Įven with so much going on, Tart remains dull, never developing any one of its numerous storylines for any length of time. He’s got a girlfriend, too, who never really has her say about his cheating with Cat.Īlso, Delilah’s mother is having an affair with Eloise’s (Lacey Chabert) father, while Cat’s own father has almost nothing to do with her seemingly only in the picture to give her money and forget her birthday. This all seems simple enough, at first, until we learn that William is actually from the “wrong side of the tracks,” supporting a drug habit by stealing from the homes of his friends and fencing the goods to creepy Kenny (a bizarre appearance from Kids in the Hall member Scott Thompson), who also pimps him out to older men. She gains little from her new friends, not knowing just who she is supposed to be - poor and stuck-up or rich and nice? Is it possible to be either? Or both? Oh, help! ![]() Cat soon learns, however, that life Park Avenue-style is not all it’s cracked up to be. Now she finds herself welcome at ritzy parties and is finally getting noticed by the dreamy-but-dangerous William (Brad Renfro). When Delilah’s behaviour gets her expelled, Cat ends up hanging with the snobby crowd her friend warned her about. Delilah’s into sex and drugs and has just the right kind of smart mouth to keep her feeling tougher than the stuck up snobs also attending the school. The film presents itself as a modern day, gender-switched Great Expectations, but fails to create anything approximating the tension of the Dickens tale or grant its characters any sense of charm or whimsy.Ĭat (Swain) is a 16-year-old student at an upper-class New York City private school, whose only friend is the rambunctious Delilah (Bijou Phillips). Tart is another in a long line of unoriginal attempts to explore one girl’s desire to fit in. Given its title and this titillating image, Tart looks like your average teen sex yarn. I’m drawing this conclusion based on the straight-to-video film’s exploitative box art a cheeky Dominique Swain wears a preppy school uniform, the back of which is blowing in the wind revealing her white panties. Toxic Friend Influence: With the exception of goody-two-shoes Eloise, all the teens in Cat's life encourage her to engage in delinquent behavior, not that she needs too much encouragement in that area.T art‘s distributors might well be aware that the film has little going for it.Their First Time: Well, Cat's first time at least.Naturally, Cat's mom wishes she'd hang out with Eloise. Teacher's Pet: Eloise, who is hated by the other girls for it.They think if you roll your r's you have a higher IQ or something." Smart People Speak the Queen's English: Cited by Delilah in reference to Grace: "The only reason those fucking imbeciles let her into our class is because of that accent.Girls Have Cooties: After Cat sneezes on Pete's food, he refuses to eat any more on account of it now being covered with her cooties.Forgotten Birthday: Cat's absentee dad forgets to call her on her birthday.Foreign Exchange Student: Grace is an exchange student from England.Delilah does it in an exaggerated, mocking way. Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: The girls all curtsy to their teacher as they enter school.The Cameo: Melanie Griffith appears in a brief, walk-on role.Cat: All I wanted was to impress him, to get his attention.Ĭat: Not exactly what I had in mind.
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