Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. [Blu-ray]

Overview

A teen girl struggles to reconcile her desire for self-improvement with her rebellious nature and her lack of maturity in this coming-of-age drama, which won first-time director Leslie Harris a special jury prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Chantel (Ariyan Johnson), the self-possessed eldest child of hard-working parents in a Brooklyn housing project, hangs with her homegirls, helps out at home, studies hard, and holds down a part-time job. Stymied by teachers whose lessons she doesn't find relevant, Chantel asks her guidance counselor to let her graduate early so she can get a jump on college and eventually medical school; he declines, telling her that her explosive temper proves she lacks the necessary maturity. Meanwhile, frustrated by her responsibilities at home, Chantel begins making time with boys -- first with her broke but sweet neighbor, Gerard (Jerard Washington), then with the financially well-off, parentally unsupervised Tyrone (Kevin Thigpen), who refuses to wear a condom when Chantel begins having sex with him. When she becomes pregnant, Tyrone flips out and tries to pressure her into having an abortion; Chantel refuses, goes deep into denial, hides her pregnancy, and alienates even her best friend, Natete (Ebony Jerido). Reportedly shot for 100,000 dollars in just 17 days, Just Another Girl was billed as the first film ever written, directed, and produced by an African-American woman. The actors are mostly unknowns, although star Johnson would go on to appear in Hollywood features such as Bulworth and The General's Daughter. The hip-hop-heavy soundtrack made prominent and repeated use of rapper Nikki D's "Daddy's Little Girl," whose lyrics echo the film's story line and whose chorus samples "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/14/2023
UPC:	0191329240533
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Miramax
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	19,917

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ariyan Johnson	Chantel
Kevin Thigpen	Tyrone
Ebony Jerido	Natete
Chequita Jackson	Paula
Jerard Washington	Gerard
William Badget	Cedrick
Karen Robinson	Debra Mitchell
Tony Wilkes	Owen Mitchell
Johnny Roses	Mr. Weinberg
Shawn King	Andre
Kisha Richardson	Lavonica
Monet Dunham	Denisha
Wendall Moore	Mr. Moore
Laura Ross	Woman Customer
Rashmella	Woman in Welfare Office
Ron L. Cox	Clinic Doctor
Richie Carter	Rashawn,Amiri
Gary Perez	Store Manager
Lynn Franklin	Social Worker
Mwata Cofer	Amiri
Erwin Wilson	Policeman 1
Thomas Thomas	Policeman 2
Nicholas B. Carter	Child Who Opens Bag
Jasmine Thomas	Chantel and Ty's Baby
Moise Dominique	Newborn Baby
Eric Sadler	Composer

Technical Credits

Leslie Harris

Leslie Harris	Director,Producer,Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Erwin Wilson	Producer
Tracy Moore	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Unorthodox in its point of view but dogmatic in its presentation thereof, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is a bit of a mixed bag. Writer/director/producer Leslie Harris injects the gangsta-centric world of early-'90s African-American cinema with an all-too-rare depiction of an uncompromising young black woman. Lead actress Ariyan Johnson is a forceful screen presence who brings her mercurial character vividly to life, while the supporting players, though sometimes amateurish, help establish a nicely detailed social world for Johnson's Chantel to inhabit. The film works best in its slice-of-life early scenes, especially those involving Chantel's interactions with her friends and parents. These sequences establish the pressures and pleasures of a typical urban black girl with easy humor and unselfconscious drama. The relationships between Chantel and her competing suitors are nicely played out, while the party scenes are stylishly shot and there's plenty of believable chemistry between the protagonist and her girlfriends. Unfortunately, though, Harris doesn't integrate her sermons about the issues facing African-American girls very well into her dialogue or story line. A scene involving snooty white customers talking down to Chantel at work is amusing though too broadly written, while a confrontation between Chantel and a history teacher, whose lesson about the Holocaust strikes her as irrelevant, seems stagy and stiff -- designed to make a point rather than tell a story. These scenes, plus the sudden plot twists of the film's climax and its too-tidy epilogue, may leave audiences with a negative impression of a film with many fine qualities and well-played scenes.

All Movie Guide - Brian J. Dillard