Film Clip: Girl in Progress

A Seattle teenager (Cierra Ramirez) rebels against her working-class mother (Eva Mendes) in a fumbling, naïve effort to grow up too soon. Terrible writing (Hiram Martinez) and slovenly direction (Patricia Riggen) turn what was plainly intended to be a heartwarming coming-of-age dramedy into the irritating tale of two annoying people—an irresponsible mother and her obnoxious daughter. Situations are phony and contrived, with performances as amateurish as a second-rate, high-school drama club. Young Ramirez, in the movie’s largest role, is particularly at sea, but it’s hardly her fault; Meryl Streep herself couldn’t have made it work. Matthew Modine (as Mendes’ married-cad boyfriend) and Patricia Arquette (looking particularly uncomfortable as a sympathetic teacher), recite their lines half-heartedly.