University of Virginia Library

Not Hopeless

Actually, the entire project is
not as hopeless as you might think.
Mr. Zwelback has written into his
screenplay some human situations
and characters that sporadically
come to the surface and take
precedence. For awhile, the premise
seems genuine and thus we accept
it. There is a striving for pathos that
is inherent to the story and, in the
beginning, we let our sympathies
flow to Natalie.

However, there is a limit to how
far our feelings extend. Natalie does
not really try to overcome the one
flaw in her character; she is forever
downgrading herself. And too, a girl
who is as clever and as imaginative
as she proves to be (she has several
funny lines throughout the movie)
is not going to be made fun of by
every boy in Brooklyn.