Caroline (Kat Dennings) has moved to a small town due her dad’s job and she is not exactly happy about it. Caroline lost her mother a short time ago, the small town life only adds to her boredom and depression: the mean school kids who already hate her on principle, the mind-numbingly dull small town with dirty air and the curfews established to protect residents from the serial killer lurking around.
Since there is not much fun to do except to get drunk and/or high, Caroline decides that she should at least deserve the slutty image and sleep with her English teacher Barry (Josh Lucas). When he insists on keeping up appearances to not to get caught, she starts hanging out with the likeable pothead Thurston (Reece Thompson). The bad thing is, he is already smitten and will not really be happy with her games. Add it to the fact that he has his own issues, things are about to get very complicated.
Can Caroline find happiness and not get killed by the serial killer in process?
**
Daydream Nation might be the only teen movie where the serial killer is added to the notion of drama. This is not a thriller or a teen-slasher. It is not a very romantic story or a very dramatic story. It is a weird mixture that provides some tragic comedy, and manages not to bore you. And while I would definitely not watch it again, it does provide a weirdly entertaining-enough experience for your first time.
Most of the time the characters are far too….annoying for my taste. And as far as teen movies that provide some depression and drugs, I prefer Charlie Bartlett, another Kat Dennings movie with more likeable male characters.
The 6 IMDB user-rating sounds just about right. Above average and interesting enough. But I realize I am not too fond of teen movies where I get to like the parents more than the teenagers. And here my favorite characters were Kat’s dad, and Thurston’s mom (Andie MacDowell). And be warned, the pace is slow.
*
My Favorite Teen Movies (Movies with High School Student Lead Characters)
– 10 Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger & Joseph Gordon-Levitt
– Charlie Bartlett starring Kat Dennings and Anton Yelchin
– Footloose starring Kevin Bacon
– Saved! starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore & Macaulay Culkin