MovieFreak.com - "Big Girls Don't Cry" Special Edition DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

Kati (Anna Maria Mühe) and Steffi (Karoline Herfurth) have been best friends forever. Now that their love lives are heating up, they're hitting the books less and going out to nightclubs more. But when Steffi sees her father out with another woman, her life begins to spiral out of control. Steffi hatches an outrageous revenge plan against her father's mistress. Meanwhile, Kati begins a fun romance with an older guy. As the two girls begin to grow apart, they realize they need each other more than ever.

Big Girls Don't Cry, or Große Mädchen weinen nicht in German, is an accomplished, courageous, and compelling coming-of-age story about friendship, family, love, sex, commitment and life. These issues are especially prominent and important during a teenager's life. In the case of Maria Von Heland's script these issues are explored with great care and incorporated into a pretty good story. Certainly for a story such as this one to work the characters have to be involving and realistic. Newcomers Anna Maria Mühe and Karoline Herfurth give impressive performances that satisfy that requirement. It also helps these two share chemistry and are attractive girls.

Director Maria Von Heland directs her script with a good eye for shooting scenes, a great ear for dialogue, and an instinct to create an involving teenage drama. Big Girls Don't Cry is not depressing by any means, but it features some depressing themes, such as guilt and divorce. I guess on a certain level it's easy to deconstruct this film in terms of themes and issues, but then again Von Heland's intentions are clear. She doesn't use clichés to tell the story, which is a welcome notion since most films about this subject tend to do so.

The two girls are only in high school but already dress, behave, and think like young adults. They also have to deal with adult situations, something that really sucks about being a teenager. The film doesn't shy away from showing the girls drinking, smoking, and having sex, although if this weren't a German/European feature such an outlook would probably be cut short by slow fade-outs or some stylized alternative. In my experience the European cinema is more advanced and much braver in this type of storytelling. Case in point, the German rating is ages 12 and up while the MPAA rates the film an R for "sexuality, language, drug use and some violence - all involving teens." It's the difference of two cultures, basically, though I have to admit I identify more with the European culture since I'm originally from Germany. But back the review.

Not everything about Big Girls Don't Cry works. For example, some of Steffi's actions are pretty harsh and make her seem like a mean bitch, though I can't identify with her situation; her father is having an affair. Kati is much more compassionate and understanding, though she also struggles at home; her parents don't approve of her lifestyle. Life is full of small battles and these two girls are in the middle of the battlefield; hence the song in the opening and closing credits.

The film's main cast features some pretty good actors. Most provocative are Anna Maria Mühe and Karoline Herfurth, of course. I hope they move on to greater things. Supporting them are Josefine Domes as Tessa, the daughter of the wife Steffi's father is having an affair with, David Winter as David, Steffi's boyfriend, and as Klaus, Kati's love interest. Also worth mentioning are the actors portraying the parents. By the film's end I was just a little disappointed because the characters of Tessa and David did not get their final moments, although a deleted scene that appears in the extras section gives more insight. I'm glad I was able to get a review copy of this film two weeks after the film's release, because Big Girls Don't Cry is pretty good.

Columbia Tristar presents Big Girls Don't Cry in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Berlin looks very nice in this presentation, at least what minimal footage director Maria von Heland shows of the city. Colors are both well-saturated and at times appropriately subdued. Specks and grain show up in certain areas, but don't distract at all. The overall presentation is pretty good.

Columbia Tristar presents Big Girls Don't Cry in German 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The film's soundtrack is very nice, including a nice score and some cool songs, especially the title song "Teenage Battlefield," although the woman singing is at times hard to understand. But that's not the case with the dialog, which is clear and easy to understand. Surround usage is evident in places, although most of the soundtrack sticks to the front speakers. Rear speakers give good definition to sound effects. The overall presentation is very nice. You can also select to view the film in a French Dolby Surround dub.

As with the special features of Columbia Tristar's Nowhere in Africa DVD release, another prominent German film, the studio reproduces the features from the German product and subtitles them for American audiences.

First we get 8 Deleted Scenes. These are short, but add some transitional story to the film. The film only runs 92 minutes and pacing is not an issue, so I'm not sure why these scenes were excised. Following it is a 7-minute Making-of Featurette that is basically a behind-the-scenes reel. It's worth watching especially if you dig the film. Director and Cast Interviews offer some story background as well as other interesting information. Director Maria von Heland discusses her research and comments on the two main stars while the actors speak about their experience, among other things. These are nice to watch, too.

Rounding out the special features is a Photo Gallery, Filmographies, and Trailers. I want to comment on the DVD cover art, which is quite different from the German cover art. The Region 1 art is more effective and features the two girls prominently. Click here to view the German art and compare.

You can select to view the film with optional English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Thai subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated but easy to navigate. The 92-minute feature is organized into twenty-eight chapters.

Big Girls Don't Cry tells a compelling story about two best friends having to deal with difficult situations in a time when they are most vulnerable. The performances are very good and the script is well-written. Video/audio quality is very nice. Billed as a special edition and featuring some nice extras, Big Girls Don't Cry is an all-around pretty good DVD. I recommend a purchase.

THE MOVIE	8
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	8
THE EXTRAS	6
OVERALL (not an average)	8