Movie: The Tracey Fragments
Director: Maureen Medved
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Principle actors: Ellen Page, Ari Cohen, Ryan Cooley, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Zie Souwand, Kate Todd, Slim Twig

4 ½ Stars 

Written by: Emily Axelson (Calgary Correspondent - Canada)

Portrayed through the point of view of a troubled, tormented and on the verge of insane Tracey Berkowitz, we see the cluttered thoughts of the misunderstood teenager and question what is real, and what she creates in her mind. The entire film is consisted of multiple images on the screen, to represent her various and many thoughts. At first, I found it hard to follow, but as time goes on, you adjust, and you see the unique beauty to it.

Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page) is a dark, disturbed, and bullied 15 year old who is the major target for bullying at her school. Her little brother Sonny is hypnotized into thinking he's a dog, and he follows her everywhere. Unfortunately, her home life is not much of an improvement from her torturous school life. Her parents don't understand her and are contemplating sending her to a psychiatrist. Her mother seems unloving, cold, and in the middle of a mental breakdown. The only person who she feels shows her a trace of interest is the new boy at school; the mysterious Billy.  

Feeling that seeing him, even though they haven't been acquainted, is the only thing in her life that is remotely worth while, when her parents ground her, in an act of desperation, she runs away. Sonny follows her, and gets lost. Her frightened parents are in a huge panic to fine their son, but don't show hardly any worry into Tracey's disappearance. On top of Tracey's depression, and possible insanity, she now also has to deal with the danger of the streets and the incomparable feeling of being unloved by her parents. 

Much talked about Ellen Page, who had her breakthrough performance in the wildly successful and academy award winning "Juno" (Including a nomination for Ellen for best actress), proves her range of acting in this film. She goes from a furious teenager seeking revenge on an internet pedophile in "Hard Candy", to a vulnerable girl sucked into a cult in "mouth to mouth", to a corky pregnant teenager in "Juno", and now to a depressed, on the verge of crazy runaway. There is no doubt that she is amongst the most versatile, and talented actresses of our generation.

I give huge props to the film editor. I can't imagine how long it took to crop all those images into almost every single shot of the movie. It was very effective and really gave us a glimpse into what it's like inside the mind of Tracey Berkowitz.  

At times it's difficult to tell what is real and what fiction is. However, this effect is intentional, which is proven though Tracey's quote, "My dad always says I don't know what to believe and what not to believe...well how can you tell what's real when the whole world is in your head?" The film is through her eyes, and through her eyes the world is no consisted of simply reality. She is unaware of what is real herself, and it's a very interesting look into the mind of Tracey.