Evan Rachel Wood does a poignant acting job as Tracy, a bright but failing junior high student who lives with her single mom Mel, who has her own problems. Holly Hunter gives a searing, performance that captures Mel's desperate efforts to make ends meet, find her own way in life and still be a mother to her increasingly difficult daughter. Tracy and her pal Evie, played strikingly by co-author Reed, are up to mischief, whether shoplifting or indulging in drugs. They are on a mutually destructive tear. Tracy is into self-mutilation, a reflection of her lack of self-worth, and Evie attaches herself to Tracy and her mom in a flight from the reality of her own lack of solid roots.

Tracy also has nothing but hostility for the new man in her mother's life, an ex-drug addict, and she is devastated by the lack of attention she gets from her busy and estranged father, who means well but is all wrapped up in his work and a new relationship. Evie is patently a bad influence on Tracy, who could use a friend who would point her in a better direction. Their lives are clearly headed for more and more trouble.

Hardwicke doesn't flinch from presenting the situation as serious at it is, and some of the scenes, particularly those in which Tracy inflicts wounds on her arm, are tough to watch. But the film is consistently admirable precisely for its candor. The director, aided by the good performances, succeeds in reaching our emotions but there is an atmosphere of despair and it is tough to see any favorable resolution if the teenagers don't get the psychiatric help and guidance they need so urgently.