On this day five years ago, October 24, 2004, the premiere of the bio-tech thriller
Regenesis aired on Canadian TV, with Ellen Page playing the mouthy but lovable Lilith Sandstrom. She'd been acting long before (since she was 10), but with this role things started kicking off for her in a big way. She would soon leave the show to star in edgy indies like
Mouth to Mouth and
Hard Candy, even darker films like
The Tracey Fragments and
An American Crime, and of course the smash comedy
Juno. Currently 22, though looking five years younger as always, she shows every sign of being around for a long time. She's just wrapping up work on Christopher Nolan's film due out next summer,
Inception, and is planning to write and produce a new comedy for HBO.
Young talent like this is extremely rare, and I continue to be amazed by the breadth and maturity Ellen brings to her performances. This tribute will survey the work she's done since
Regenesis and rate it three ways. First we'll look at the films themselves; then Ellen's acting in each; and finally the characters she plays. I'm putting this post on the sidebar and will continually update as her new films hit the theaters. Enjoy!
The Films
1.
Regenesis (2004). 5 stars. I'm cheating a bit by including a TV show, but it's so exceptional it plays like a feature film and actually tops my list. For the underprivileged who haven't been exposed,
Regenesis is a gritty thriller about a group of scientists who work against bio-terrorism, environmental dangers, and bizarre diseases, and unlike most sci-fic dramas, it's not so much about saving the day as learning to live with irreversible damage. As a Canadian production it's refreshingly unsanitized, meaning that people behave like real people, use the f-word with abandon, and even appear nude on occasion. The first season is the one to watch -- brilliant story arcs over 13 episodes. Ellen is featured in episodes 1-8 as the daughter of the lead scientist, and she befriends a sick boy
who thinks he's a clone.
2.
Juno (2007). 5 stars. Critically hailed as Ellen's best film, in which she plays a teen who contemplates abortion but decides to have the baby and give it to a wealthy couple. I've seen this movie many times, and I'm surprised how it never gets old; there's none of the cheesy sentimentality that mars most comedies. I'm also fond of the way it subverts liberal expectations, but without glorifying teen pregnancy or serving an anti-abortionist agenda (even if it's been incredibly mistaken for doing so). Scriptwriter Diablo Cody is as liberal and feminist as they come, but she's not interested in partisan preaching.
Roger Ebert was right about it being the being the best film of 2007 -- it's flawless.
3.
Hard Candy (2006). 4 ½ stars. This would have easily claimed the top slot, except the last 25 minutes haven't aged well (bringing it down half a star), and I explain why
here. It pretty much undoes what it set out to do, even copping out, and gets too self-righteous at the end. But it's still an awesome film and the one responsible for Ellen's initial fame. Call it an indie revenge-thriller about sexual justice -- or injustice, depending on how you look at it -- about a 14-year old girl named Hayley who decides to castrate a guy in his own home. This charming dude stalks teens on the internet and is a closet pedophile to boot, perhaps even a killer. He and Hayley first hook up in a coffee shop after weeks of online chat: the well-known
chocolate cake scene. I suppose I'd be tempted to hook up with a girl like this too... oh, did I just say that?
4.
Mouth to Mouth (2005). 4 stars. Right before
Hard Candy came this overlooked gem, about a revolutionary teen who leaves her mother and joins a gang living on the streets of Europe. This gang is armed with "radical knowledge", a neo-communist philosophy that condemns personal property and promotes group interests over the self. Based on the director's actual experience with gangs, it focuses on the manipulative leader who seduces but ultimately alienates Sherry, yet who incredibly succeeds in brainwashing her mother when she comes to rescue her. It's still a hard film to come by in the states; the
trailer is very good and represents it well.
5.
An American Crime (2007). 4 stars. Based on the
true story of Sylvia Likens, who was tortured and killed by a disturbed woman caring for her in her parents' absence. Sylvia was tied up in a basement for weeks -- beaten, burned, cut, branded, and forced to eat filth, while, amazingly, kids in the neighborhood dropped by daily to participate in the "fun". Ellen is as convincing in the role of a savagely abused innocent as she is in that of a tormenting sadist (
Hard Candy), and most people won't want to see this more than once (if that). The final act -- Sylvia's dream of reuniting with her parents as she lies unconscious and dying -- is heartbreaking. There are really no pleasant scenes to watch, but I am moved by
this haunting montage.
6.
Whip It! (2009). 3 ½ stars. When I first heard about this one, I thought Ellen was selling out and going mainstream. My fears turned out to be groundless. It may have all the cliches and usual outcomes expected in an underdog sports film, but minus the melodrama, and it even plays like an indie film though I'm not sure why. It could be the edgy nature of roller derby, or just the way the characters are handled in the story. Or maybe it's Ellen's natural "indie persona", which she seems to exude without trying. In any case, the story is about a girl whose mother forces her to compete in ghastly beauty pageants until she stumbles across roller derby and falls in love with knocking other girls down on the skating rink. Whip it good!
7.
The Tracey Fragments (2007). 3 stars. About a messed up girl looking for her lost younger brother. She searches for him riding a bus at night, naked under a shower curtain. Sound bizarre? This might have placed higher on my list if not for the irritating gimick of
so many split frames playing on the screen at once. I realize what the director was trying to do (hence the title) in portraying a delusional girl whose mind is everywhere: we're supposed to be impressed less by what happens to Tracey and more by the record of her perceptions; her jagged emotional viewfinder is critical. But it's asking much of us to digest up to eight frames at a time. Still, there's no denying the film's daring originality. It's indie, weird, raw... perfect for Ellen Page.
8.
The Stone Angel (2007). 2 ½ stars. I went into this with high expectations since both of my favorite Ellens are in it (I revere Ellen Burstyn), and so was let down by the mediocrity. It's one of those films where so much talent goes to waste, and so little is happening around what is trying to seem profound. Burstyn stars as a bitter old matriarch who fears she will lose her independence and be placed in a nursing home by her son and daughter-in-law. Page gets a small role as the girlfriend of another one of Burstyn's sons, who both get killed by a train in a dare. It's about family pride being a destructive force across generations, but somehow feels less than the sum of its parts.
9.
X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006). 2 stars. I usually dislike superhero films, and this one's no exception, though I admit the mutants are a cool concept. A director like
Christopher Nolan could have worked wonders over this lame story about two factions of mutants kicking each others' asses over the politically-loaded question of a cure for mutations. The blatant attempt to analogize mutation with (homo)sexual orientation is cheap, and we even get to hear Ian McKellan, who of course is openly gay, say through the lips of his character (Magneto), "Nobody is going to cure us -- we are the cure!" As a bisexual I appreciate the sentiment, but it's too preachy. As for Ellen, she plays a cute shadowcat who can pass through walls, but she gets only minutes of screen time -- which is perhaps just as well.
10.
Smart People (2008). 1 star. Banal, boring, and blisteringly cheerless, this is Ellen's throw-away film -- and one that I wanted to throw away instead of returning to the video store. The story focuses on a conceited college professor who has no time for anyone (least of all his students and two kids), and is writing a book essentially about how stupid people are. Ellen plays his snarky and socially inept high-school daughter, who alternates between patronizing him and mouthing off, while trying to seduce her own uncle in between. (The uncle takes refuge by fleeing the house and sleeping on the dorm floor of his nephew, who can't stand his sister anyway.) But not even she can save this misbegotten "comedy" which failed to elicit a single smile from me.
The Acting Performances
1.
Hayley Stark. 5 stars. The sadist of
Hard Candy is Ellen's ass-kicking performance, her finest, and certainly her most unforgettable. She deserved an Oscar nomination for this role as much as for Juno MacGuff (#2), if not more so, but alas, such awards aren't dished out to overnight successes. Hayley has to be the best teen psychopath of all time, and it's impossible not to thrill to her when she's performing her surgery on Patrick Wilson, sweating like a pig, bantering ridiculous witticisms.
2.
Juno MacGuff. 5 stars. Ellen was made for this role and owned it completely. I imagine she's like Juno in real life -- snarky and fluent with punchy one-liners -- her interviews at least suggest some commonalities. The trick is making a character like this attractive (you don't win hearts on sarcasm alone), but she nailed the formula with perfect measures of sass, inner turmoil, and wit. I hope she's as successful in her private life.
3.
Tracey Berkowitz. 4 ½ stars. A wide range of talent was required to play up to Tracey's mood swings and bipolar-like sensibilities, and Ellen was more than capable. It's astonishing, really, how she managed to mold a feral but sensitive girl whom audiences can relate to (though we'd relate even better with less of the editorial split-screen technique), vulgar as hell, full of self-loathing and hatred for everyone, but also capable of tender mercies.
4.
Sylvia Likens. 4 ½ stars. Ellen's most searing performance to date, and difficult to watch. I understand she was the only actor considered for Sylvia Likens, which isn't surprising. Few young talents are up to the demands of a role like this. For those who think Ellen is only at home in snarky or psychotic roles,
An American Crime will dispel all doubt. Sylvia is as shy and vulnerable as they come. The scene
where she's branded is stunning -- and very upsetting.
5.
Lilith Sandstrom. 4 ½ stars. She didn't have the biggest role in
Regenesis, but what she got she milked for all its worth. It's impressive to watch her play off Peter Outerbridge (David Sandstrom, her brilliant but asshole father) and of course Mark Rendall, whose character (Mick) she falls in love with, knowing his days are numbered. She never overacts throughout the show, and that's a rarity among teens. The scene with her and Mick
in a motel room is touching.
6.
Bliss Cavendar. 4 stars. Playing a non-waspy version of Juno, Ellen makes this character vulnerable and sympathetic, whose rebellion against her mother is understandable. (How would
you act as a 17-year old if your mother shoved '50s values down your throat and made you compete in horrendous beauty pageants?) Bliss' roller-derby voyage is one of self-discovery, a hard role to tame without waxing maudlin and cliche, but done just right as it turns out.
7.
Sherry Green. 4 stars. Like Bliss (#6), this girl has a suffocating mother, but her solution is more radical: leave home and join a street gang. Sherry captures the essence of impressionable youth, and learns the hard way how manipulative and dangerous charismatic leaders are. It's a gritty role for a 16-year old, and Ellen goes to some dark places in
Mouth to Mouth. The scene with
Sherry and her mother shows the playful affection they have for each other alongside the tension that causes their estrangement.
8.
Arlene Drieser. 3 stars. She gets a pitifully small role in
The Stone Angel, almost a cameo, as a local wild girl who falls in love with a son of the lead matriarch (Ellen Burstyn) who disapproves of their relationship. Not much going on here, and her talent is wasted as much as the other Ellen's. But she does a fine job with what she's given -- when does she not?
9.
Kitty Pryde. 3 stars. Another miniscule role, which is just as well since the X-Men are pretty lame. I guess it's fun to see Ellen run through walls. My understanding is that Kitty is supposed to be Jewish and her grandfather was held in a Nazi concentration camp, but none of that is explored in the film. Again, she did a decent job with the material handed to her, but it's not even half a page in the book of her career.
10.
Vanessa Wetherhold. 2 stars. It's interesting how this girl is a spitting image of Juno personality-wise. A hardcore Republican and social misfit, to be sure, but the snarky persona and barbed quips are almost exactly the same. Does that mean it's a great performance? No, because context is everything, and in a dull flop like
Smart People, Vanessa is just a dull smart ass. She's definitely the low point of Ellen's career -- in my opinion, the only performance she's ever given that leaves much to be desired.
The Characters 
1.
Lilith Sandstrom. 5 stars. Lilith is awesome, the best character Ellen ever played. She has attitude, but real heart and goes to the wall for her friends. As when she leaves home to take Mick on a whale watch before his time is up. The whale appears moments too late, but at least Lilith is there for him
when he dies. My favorite scene is in the next episode, when David proves he's
not such a bastard in helping her come to terms with Mick's death. The show was never the same after she left.
2.
Hayley Stark. 5 stars. Sweet Hayley. I love this psychotic little bitch as much as Hannibal Lecter and Max Cady. She's perverse, demented, but also very funny -- as long as you're not on the receiving end of her ire. Her formula: luring ephebophiles into a den of torture in their own homes, and mind-fucking them until they kill themselves. Those are her good traits. I don't think she has any bad ones.
3.
Sylvia Likens. 4 stars. I just want to hug this doll whenever I watch
An American Crime. Shy, innocent, and with a heart of gold, Sylvia is the last person who deserved the treatment she received from Gertrude Baniszewski. I don't believe in hell, but if there is such a place I might hope for Gertie to roast there for a few months (about the time it took for her to torture and kill Sylvia). Where do sickos come from anyway?
4.
Bliss Cavendar. 4 stars. How can you not love Babe Ruthless? An adorable girl with no pretensions other than wanting to break out of her life prison and have some fun. Apparently her character is just as likable in the novel on which the film is based. For some reason I always associated roller derby with white trash, but I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to sports. No trash here.
5.
Sherry Green. 4 stars. You have to admire a kid who runs away from home to join a grass-roots movement -- that's putting your money where your mouth is (or complete lack of it, as the case may be) -- even if disillusionment is the inevitable outcome. You also have to respect the way she takes undeserved beatings with grace, like when she's punished by the gang leader, three times her size, for "making him" have sex with her. Honestly. Sherry's great.
6.
Juno MacGuff. 3 stars. Juno is cool if not overly endearing. There are times you want to hug her, times you want to gag her, and times you want to smack her silly. I think if I had a daughter with this much lip and she got pregnant, I'd force her to have the abortion just to take her down a peg. Well no, not really, but... Or if I were the adoptive father of her unborn and she were spending so much damn time with me, I'd divorce my prissy wife and kidnap Juno for an elopement. Or maybe not, but then again...
7.
Tracey Berkowitz. 3 stars. As with Juno (#6), a great performance doesn't necessarily a great character make. I should be clear that I do like Tracey quite a bit. She's a wonderfully messed up kid, bullied by classmates and shit on by her parents, but so emotionally jagged that it shatters my empathy when I least expect it. This is a character I have a hard time getting closure on. I guess I need to watch the film again.
8.
Arlene Drieser. 2 stars. Young, naive, and broke, she just wants to marry a guy and have loads of kids. With not much screen time we don't get to know Arlene well, so she falls near the bottom of the list by default. She's devoted enough to get in a truck with her boyfriend on a suicide dare, and I suppose that says something for her, though perhaps not in a good way. Oh well.
9.
Kitty Pryde. 2 stars. A cute kitty with cute powers, but that's about it. As with Arlene (#8), she gets too little screen time. She was also played by different actors in the first two X-Men films (though even more briefly, if you can imagine that), so the character isn't even entirely Ellen's.
10.
Vanessa Wetherhold. 1 star. What's there to say about Vanessa? She's frigid, disdains all things democratic, and flirts with her uncle who looks like a toad. Before moving in on her uncle, however, he takes an
amusing swipe at her for being a social misfit with no life. In addition to being the low point of Ellen's acting career (the only performance from her I've found wanting), Vanessa is by far her worst character.
UPDATE: This post has been reproduced on
Ellen Page Online.
