Teen Spirit plays like reality television for much of it, drab not feeling like a film.

The direction's weak and the characterization lacks depth, especially secondary. The casting and performances could've been better as well. Comes home strong, but then ends suddenly when it should continue to thrive.

Prior to watching I was leaning toward one star based on the cheap cover, moronic title, and a theme done many times before, i.e. young singer with big dreams comes out of nowhere w/some obstacles along the way of course. What turned me into a strong supporter? Great acting by Elle, Agnieszka (played the tough mom to humorous perfection),and Zlatko. Great blending of music w/changing scenes. Great camera work & editing. Good choice of songs, many by well known artists. Finally, and no way the least, Elle did the singing. I first thought it was professional voice dubbing based on range, emotive presence, pitch quality, but nope just her. Bonus: Elle watches "The Voice".

I was initially drawn to Teen Spirit because of Elle Fanning, who is one of my favorite actresses and always seems to give an inspired performance in whatever I see her in. That holds true here in spades. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing I took from the film, as the rest seemed oddly rushed and emotionally stilted.

For a basic overview, Teen Spirit opens with teenaged Violet (Fanning) living in a small English town with her mother (Agnieszka Grochowska). They seem to be living in near-poverty, working multiple menial labor jobs to survive. Despite that rather drab existence, Violet loves to sing and has a talent for it. She enters the UK Teen Spirit competition (think American Idol here) and advances to the next round. The only problem? She needs a guardian signature and knows her mother will not provide it. As such, she lists the help of local drunkard (yet former opera singer) Vlad (Zlatko Buric) to become her ad hoc manager.

As I mentioned, Fanning is easily the star of the show here and nothing else even comes close. Her acting talent is a marvel, as she can play the sullen, blank-faced, hopeless type just as perfectly as the peppy, bubblegum pop star. In a film that moves far too fast or superficially to create any real emotion, her performance alone elevates the entire experience further than it even should be. Without her, this would truly be a wreck.

The main problem with Teen Spirit is that it tries to cover wayyyyyy too much ground for a film that only runs about 90 minutes. Is this a film about a struggling country girl embracing her singing talent in the face of adversity? The Violet/Vlad relationship? Losing one's self or having to make the tough decisions that fame brings? Teen Spirit tries to tackle all of those scenarios and ends up coming off as rushed, with none of the characters ever really being given room to expand or grow. There's never any time to just savor what should be strong character moments because they come so fast and furious for the entire runtime.

Overall, this is a movie that is absolutely carried by Elle Fanning's continually ascending stardom. She single-handedly made me care at all for the proceedings, and that is a tough ask for anyone, albeit one as young as she. Anyone other than her die-hard fans can easily skip this one, however.