videorama-759-859391 Another of these indie treats, steered by the young Macdonald, still in her young acting day, who pulls off a dramatic and wonderfully brave performance as a teen prostitute, who with a stable of other equally aged girls, suffers violent blows, ridicule and rejection, not only from clients. And Stella certainly does pull tricks, alright, one involving blowing up a car, in a retaliation, and another, involving sticking a Fisherman's friend, in the orifice of a middle aged client, who's up for almost anything, just not that. Her middle aged pimp, Mr Peters (New Trick's James Bolam) keeps her line, off the drugs whatever, where if not satisfying a client, apology is given in sexual favors to Mr Bolam. He also likes to takes his girls out for ice cream, where in privatude under the rotunda, they have a little bit of an intimate session, which is enough to turn off soft serves, but Stella certainly serves it back. When Stella takes off with her new found boyfriend, Mr Bolam, not happy, gives her a not so sending off present. This is quite a good drama, but Macdonald is what makes it so rewarding, here was another star in the making, who I could definitely see on the rise. We see flashbacks of Stella as a little girl, who's loser of a cowardly father, and unfunny comedian, obviously walked out on. Wait till you see Stella's trick of vengeance here. These Indie treats are great and although SDT, is not the best thing on offer, it does make for an absorbing view with it's comedy and drama, and a couple of disturbing shock moments like that gang bang scene, where Macdonald gives this drama it's spark.

12-string Artsy Brit tv movie deals with the life and fantasies of a mature-looking teen prostitute on the streets of some urban combat zone in the UK. She has a pimp who treats her like a daughter, a father who treats her like a whore, a junkie b.f., and a few pounds in a postal savings account. But her life isn't all rosy. She has a thing about fire. Film tells what happens to her when she goes on her own.Overall result is not especially rewarding. The 1984 US film ANGEL ("high school honor student by day, Hollywood hooker by night!") provided more coherent narrative and a vastly more satisfying treatment of similar material. If it's supposed to be a surprise that Stella has a sexual history with her father, it's telegraphed from their first scene together. The rest of the pic is just a wait to see what she's going to do about it. Otherwise, there's no onscreen evidence the writer got a passing grade in Plotting 101. This one seems to owe a lot in style and concept to the work of Dennis Potter (you have been warned), with bizarre fantasy and drab reality interspersed.As a native speaker of American English, I would have been completely lost in this picture without the assistance of closed captioning. (Let's not hear anything more, *ever*, from the Brits about how we in the USA butcher the language, OK?) Accents and diction featured here make Belfasters sound like BBC news readers. Worst offender is lead Kelly Macdonald, of whose dialogue literally nothing is intelligible except the "f**k" or "f**king" she uses 2 or 3 times per sentence. The Celtic lilt is rather nice, though; does she ever work in English-language productions?Direction and script are both much too artsy, tech credits are excellent at displaying the scabby underside of the UK, and the performers do what they can with the material. Atmosphere is plenty grubby and sleazy but no nudity or graphic sex is featured, which is overall a big plus for the production, though rather a surprise from a Brit TV movie.On the IMDb meter I give this a 1, regretful that the scale does not include a 0 option. As Stella herself might have put it, "Gnghh f**k tnscrfa qpsllv f**king aqng mbzarky." Or something like that. You'll have to imagine the Celtic lilt.

kevin c The output from British studios has been mixed to say the least, over the past 3/4 years. This is worth a viewing. It is sluggish over the first 30 minutes, and lacks a narrative direction. However you become drawn into Stella's life and frequent mistakes. A tender movie that doesn't go for the cliche.

eae Stella is victimized, but uses her anger to fight becoming a victim. "You don't know who I am," she tells her pimp, who has given us every reason to think that his stereotypical view of her is complete. Through flashbacks to daydreams, Stella's life has been an escape from harsh reality. Will she be able to pull off her best trick - going straight?Lots of surprises from the casting and portrayal of Stella's pimp to her visit with her father. I wish her well.