Thunderbolt In Mine Eye

Hardly any of the circumstances in which Harper and Tilly find themselves feel as though they flow naturally from their coupled experience. When the two initiate their first kiss, the situation doesn’t feel genuine but manufactured so that the two can share an “awkward” moment. Drawing on my own adolescent experience (which, thankfully, I will never have to revisit), these moments while definitely awkward are also bursting with a nervous energy that is absent here. When Harper and Tilly go for walks in the park, their conversations still feel stilted and strange.

Compare this film with the recent Angelfish, which tackles a similar budding teenage romance scenario. In that film, intimate moments between Brendan and Eva read as real and authentic, not as teenage-y scenes staged to be “awkward.”

The standout in the film is, hands down, Anjini Taneja Azhar as Harper. This young actress has an incredibly refreshing and energetic presence. Ms. Azhar embodies Harper with more truth and gravitas than the character, as written, warrants: she and her big, beautiful smile and gorgeous, expressive brown eyes can sell the most dreadfully written scenarios that Sherman and co-director Zachary Ray Sherman put her in. This is true star quality.

“In its perception of the fracturing of young, delicate relationships, Thunderbolt In Mine Eye strikes gold.”

However, hypnotic Ms. Azhar is, the movie nonetheless relies upon the chemistry between her and Liebling, and there isn’t any. Mr. Liebling has the “awkward teenager” look cornered right down to the acne on his forehead, but he is too introverted an actor to pair with the ebullient Azhar. The other young actors aren’t given much to do other than play typical teenagers. And since it looks like most of them are, there isn’t much acting going on here.

Thunderbolt In Mine Eye is so well-intentioned that it’s tough to single out the negative. The movie is short and depicts a period in adolescence that almost any person, American teenager or not, can relate to. There is no big lesson learned, no profound insight gleaned. Thunderbolt In Mine Eye is simply a slice of teenage life that, for many, sucked the first time around.

Thunderbolt In Mine Eye screened at the Slamdance Film Festival.