- Release Date: 2008
- Runtime: 124 min
- Genre: Drama
- Starring: Summer Bishil, Chris Messina, Maria Bello, Peter Macdissi ... see all
- Director: Alan Ball
- Plot: Against the backdrop of the first Gulf War, Jasira Maroun is 13, physically well developed but naïve and unable to say no. As puberty arrives, her mother sends her from... Read more
User Reviews
Didacticism is alive and well and living in Hollywood
Oct 12, 2008
brimon28 - imdb.com
Oct 12, 2008brimon28 - imdb.com
I was fortunate to view this movie in a cinema in the same weekend as I saw a stage performance of Moliere's "The Learned Ladies" and a DVD of "Memoirs of a Geisha". All three deal with the reaction of girls... Full review
Interesting.
Sep 30, 2008
Erin Greenwood - imdb.com
Sep 30, 2008Erin Greenwood - imdb.com
With the exception of the ending, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It flowed well and it kept my friend and I very interested. Mind, it is about a 13 year old girl going through puberty and exploring her sexuality, there is... Full review
Brutal American Beauty
Sep 28, 2008
M. J Arocena - imdb.com
Sep 28, 2008M. J Arocena - imdb.com
Alan Ball steps on familiar yet virgin territory in more ways than one.An American suburb with the look and feel of a populated desert. American flags and neighboring spirits. Summer Bishil surfs uncannily the waves of her puberty. Innocence and awareness.... Full review
An extremely hard movie to watch. Funny and sexually disturbing.
Sep 28, 2008
grindhouse_fan - imdb.com
Sep 28, 2008grindhouse_fan - imdb.com
How Can You Find Yourself if No One Can See You? Plot: A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War. I got really, really, but I mean, really... Full review
A dark movie w/ moments of humor, NOT a dark comedy
Sep 14, 2008
mkamath07 - imdb.com
Sep 14, 2008mkamath07 - imdb.com
The commercials for this film will make you think it's a coming of age/fish-out-water type of comedy. It's not. It's a dark and fairly disturbing portrayal of a young girl of mixed heritage who both receives and gives very mixed sexual... Full review
A "coming of age" story within a culturally diverse America
Sep 14, 2008
screenwriter-14 - imdb.com
Sep 14, 2008screenwriter-14 - imdb.com
Alan Ball's TOWELHEAD is as dark, and biting as American BEAUTY, but with a different slant as a young girl begins to experience the reality of life growing up in the suburbs of America. The cast is superb, the young actor,... Full review
Sundance premier under new name
Jan 20, 2008
Pavel-8-2 - imdb.com
Jan 20, 2008Pavel-8-2 - imdb.com
Just left the Sundance premier. They changed the title back to Towelhead, kind of a harsh turn-off while choosing a movie, but I guess that was the name of the semi- autobiographical novel. The author was present and looks well recovered... Full review
Great Film
Nov 07, 2007
favfan - imdb.com
Nov 07, 2007favfan - imdb.com
The screenplay was adapted by Ball from the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian, and is set in Texas in 1991, during the first gulf war. It follows thirteen year old Jasira as she bounces between her abusive and uncaring mother and... Full review
Critics Reviews
| Jan 08, 2009Film.com
This movie itself is astonishing in lots of ways.....Towelhead Is Shocking for More Than Just Its Title.... ... Full Review
| Oct 24, 2008National Post
Characters are often shot in unappealing closeups, their faces obscured as though being lit by flashlights, their dialogue stultifying in its simplicity and didacticism.
I'm happy to report that Summer Bishil, who plays Jasira, is in fact 20, which reduces the ick factor ever so slightly.
... Full Review
| Oct 09, 2008Sydney Morning Herald
As confronting as the movie is, I saw it as hopeful and a caution, but I admit I'm biased towards freedom of expression.
The US critical reactions are predictable; audiences will have the same difficulties with the film
... Full Review
| Oct 05, 2008The Age
Macdissi finds the innate absurdity in the character, and keeps us from hating such a buffoon.
Calling it a tough lesson to learn would be an understatement, but that's also what makes the ending such a letdown.
... Full Review
| Sep 10, 2008MSNBC
Macdissi finds the innate absurdity in the character, and keeps us from hating such a buffoon.
Eckhart, who shares some of the most raw, uncomfortable moments with Bishil, is in a tough spot: His character is obviously a villain, yet he also has to show some glimmers of vulnerability to help us understand his twisted motivation.
... Full Review
News
Capone meets young Hollywood, Part 1--Summer Bishil talks CROSSING OVER and TOWELHEAD!!!
aintitcool.com –
2009-03-11
Do i win something? I got to attend one of the first screenings of Towelhead hosted by Alan Ball in Atlanta. Both Summer and Aaron eckhart were ompressive to watch and just about everyone in the audience really liked the... ... Full Article
Towelhead (review)
flickfilosopher.com –
2009-01-11
The Christmas season is upon us, a time of year when morning zoo crews at radio stations all around the country dust off their copies of "Osama Got Run Over By A Reindeer" and maybe even try their hands at... ... Full Article
Towelhead: Better to have left things Private
thestar.com –
2008-10-24
Starring Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi, Toni Collette, Maria Bello and Summer Bishil. Directed by Alan Ball. 124 minutes. At AMC Yonge-Dundas. 14A It is certainly possible to make a transgressive movie about children in sexual jeopardy, and to do so... ... Full Article
Bad Movie with pedophile & porn elements
fandango.com –
2008-10-02
The worst and most offensive movie of the year is called ? Towel Head? which was previously named "Nothing Is Private". Written and directed by Alan Ball, the man behind "American Beauty" makes a film that the general public will... ... Full Article
'Towelhead'
stltoday.com –
2008-09-26

Nothing Is Private "Towelhead" official Trailer

