"Toe to Toe"

4-06-10.

On monday there was a film showing in D.C. called "Toe to Toe", set in D.C. It features the live of a girl named Natasha who lived in the projects and had the problems of maintaining "Princeton" level grades, while dealing with a mostly weak family except for the grandmother who was always strict, looking after a priviliged friend named Jessi who acts out because of the fact that her mother never spends time with her, and the pressures that come with living in a poor black area. The characters in the movie did a good job with the material and making it seem real. The title of the movie seem to be named after the clash that happens between the two main characters during the middle of the movie, resulting over Rashid, the boy who they both have a crush over. During the high point of the movie, the stakes start to get high, causing everyone to want to find out what happens when Natasha's academic future lies in the hands of her friend Jessi.

The way the film was shot seemed to remind me of a documentary of teenage life, and sitcoms about teens in high school, with gogo music. It was nice how they incorporated the dancing related to gogo music considering the film took place in D.C. By the end of the film there is a positive feeling conveyed upon the audience. After the film the caucasion female who played Jessi from the movie was in the audience to answer questions which made me find out that she was an up and coming actress who lived in the area. My overall impression was that the film was wonderfully shot with characters that are good at pulling the audience into the material and creating tension over the extreme parts of the play