Girls Town

It's high school senior year for four gals from Hackensack, NJ, but this lot isn't going to the prom, and they don't give a toss either. Nikki (Ellis) has a place at college to look forward to, Angela (Harris) pours her innermost thoughts into her poetry, Emma (Grace) helps out at the women's shelter, while Patti (Taylor) has a kid to look after and car maintenance classes to go to, or she'll be kept behind yet another year. When they learn that one of them has been raped but not let on, it strengthens their bond, and sets them up for revenge. There's a terrific scene where the guy's car gets it: keys are scraped along paintwork, tyres ripped open, 'rapist' daubed on the bonnet; as the girls surprise themselves with the ferocity of their attack. A detailed, smartly observed chronicle about growing up, even if the girls' friendship crosses ethnic and class boundaries a little too easily, and the improv framework sometimes makes the plot a bit sticky.