This is a feel-good movie set in 1999 in Spokane, WA where twelve-year-old girl, Beverly, lives with her grandma after her teenage parents were killed in a car accident when she was only two years old. Beverly (played by Gemma Brooke Allen) is a good kid, but she doesn’t have friends. Her desire to know her parents heightens when she finds a mixtape her parents made that set her on a journey to discover of music and answers about who her parents were. This is a coming-of-age story with plenty of tween angst. The movie covers all the bumps and buries that come along with middle school/ Junior High. It also provides a window in the desire many kids who had parents die when they were young feel. Which is to know if their parents not only love them but like the person they are/ are becoming.
To find out the songs on her parent’s her movie Beverly gets help from the snarky sarcastic record store manager named Anti who provides mixtapes even though he only sells vinyls and records. Who knew knight and shining armorer could be a dude in a record store? Anti also explains to Bev she needs to listen to the songs in order because it is a “message from the maker.” “I have to listen to it in order. It’s like mix tape law. And if there really is a message, then I need to listen to it the way my parents made it.”
Bev’s quest to find out more about her parents is spearheaded by a mixtape but quickly gains momentum when she befriends the girl across the street, Ellen played by Audrey Hsiesh, as a trusty sidekick and later the ‘scary-punk girl’ in her English class, Nicky (played Olga Petsa.) The three girls set off to help Bev uncover more songs and pieces together more of her parent’s lives.
If you love 80’s rock and roll you will appreciate the musicality, blast-from-the-past notes and lyrics that inspired generations to come. Gemma Brooke Allen brings Beverly Moody to life as a sweet, adorable, as we see her evolution to a playful, slightly rebellious, strong-willed young girl who continues to push her grandma to see her in a different light (other than a goodie-two-shoes.) Gail played by Julie Bowen, Bev’s young grandma, is a postal woman who is saving up for Beverly to attend college and is worried about Y2K and the internet collapsing. As a child of the 90s, I can honestly say I don’t remember this. Gail (Bowen) reveals throughout the movie more without so much as saying that she loves not only her granddaughter but Beverly’s mom as well.
The movie discusses Beverly’s family’s generations of babies having babies referring to Bev’s mom and grandma. There are themes of friendships, how music shapes and transforms you, mothers and daughters, and how change doesn’t always have to be scary. I would give this movie an 8. Although it is predictable and at times cheesy, it is an easy watch and the enjoyable light-hearted content and has a sweet message of the love of a parent for their child and visa versa.
For fun here are a few of my favorite quotes from Anti:
Anti pretty much everything, including you.
The last thing people want to see when they walk into a hip establishment like this is Punky Brewster.
It’s well known that rock and roll causes kids to worship Satan and hate sweaters.
Honorable mention quotes:
You can’t spell poetry without “try.” – Beverly’s English teacher
I’m Ellen. I have a 3.87 GPA, all my shots, and parents who’d never let me watch junk television.
My grandparents lived through war and famine, so I’m not allowed to complain about my homework. – Ellen
