‘How to Build a Girl’ Film Review: This Time, Beanie Feldstein Comes of Age as a Mean British Rock Critic
Based on Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical novel about becoming a teenage rock writer, the film is like ”Almost Famous“ if Cameron Crowe had been British, female and much snottier
“I’ve read every book in this library,” says frustrated 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan in the opening scene of “How to Build a Girl.” “But I can’t find a story about a girl like me.” That line sets up the movie even as it winks at the audience, which knows it’s about to see a movie about a girl exactly like Johanna.
And that means it’s about a girl a lot like Caitlin Moran, a British journalist and broadcaster who wrote the script based on her own semi-autobiographical novel about her days as a teenage rock critic in the early 1990s. Think of it as “Almost Famous” 20 years later, if Cameron Crowe had been British and female – and much, much snottier.
“How to Build a Girl,” which premieres on demand on Friday, May 8 after losing its IFC theatrical release to the coronavirus, is the first theatrical feature in 24 years for Coky Giedroyc, who has spent the past two decades working on television shows like “Harlots,” “Oliver Twist,” “Blackpool” and “Penny Dreadful.” The film manages to overcome some whiplash-inducing storytelling as long as you cut it some slack – which most people will be inclined to do, because it’s also a breezy and funny showcase for Beanie Feldstein, who’s done her share of coming-of-age comedies over the last few years and this time moves her act to the British town of Wolverhampton.
That means that Feldstein, who’s playing a character about a decade younger than the actress is, not only learned to speak in a distracting but necessary British Midlands accent but to imitate Scooby Doo in one.
The opening credits say the film is “based on a true(ish) story,” and it follows the rough outlines of Moran’s teenage years as she described them in the book. But a lot of that book was fictionalized, and the movie veers away from the book in additional ways – so it’s probably safe to think that the (ish) is every bit as important as the true.
Johanna Morrigan, the Moran stand-in, is a bright high-school overachiever who’s sure she’s going to be a writer someday, though she isn’t sure what kind of writer she’ll be. When her teacher asks for a five-page essay, Johanna writes 33 pages – but for all her academic zeal, her social skills are abysmal, and her daily life is a series of small and large humiliations.
Back home in a cramped house with her mother, father and four brothers, Johanna turns for inspiration to the wall above her bed, on which she’s taped photos of her heroes who, conveniently, come to life and give her advice. (It’s not always good advice, but still.) The icons include Elizabeth Taylor, the Bronte Sisters, Sigmund Freud, Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music” and Sylvia Plath, who are played by Lily Allen, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, Michael Sheen, Gemma Arterton and Lucy Punch, respectively; others, like David Bowie and Frida Kahlo, remain photos on the wall.
The “what kind of writer am I going to be?” question is answered, improbably enough, when Johanna answers an ad by a music magazine by sending them an impassioned review of the soundtrack to “Annie.” Thinking it’s a put-on, the hipper-than-thou staff calls her in for an interview and laughs at her – but after a ladies-room pep talk from a poster of Bjork, Johanna storms back into the office and lands an assignment to review a Manic Street Preachers concert.
Even more improbably, the magazine – the fictional D&ME, meant as a stand-in for British music rags like NME and Melody Maker, the latter of which gave Moran her start – lets her get away with a review that begins, “At 9 p.m. last night, rock ‘n’ roll meant nothing to me. By midnight it was the most important thing in my life.” (And she’s serious: This is a “rock critic” who, we are told, had never listened to the Rolling Stones.)
But aided by a thrift-shop fashion makeover accomplished on a budget of nine pounds and set to Bikini Kill’s punk anthem “Rebel Girl,” the suddenly confident Johanna Morrigan turns into “Dolly Wilde,” rock journalist. In short order, Dolly is making lots of money, a nifty trick when the publication is paying you 10p a word for record and concert reviews.
(Full disclosure: I was once a teenage rock critic myself, and I was broke when I made about 10 cents a word for L.A. Times record reviews.)
But things are going well for Johanna until she decides she wants to write features, too – and on a trip to Dublin to interview a hot singer named John Kite (“Game of Thrones” star Alfie Allen, oozing irresistible emo sincerity), she falls head over heels in love. Her resulting story may be well written, but it’s so gushy that Johanna stops getting assignments from D&ME, which much prefers snark to gush.
But Johanna is nothing if not adaptable, and if she needs to rebuild Dolly Wilde as an acid-tongued monster, so be it. With a new credo – “A nice girl gets nowhere, but a bitch can make a comeback” – Johanna/Dolly reemerges with an endless supply of withering put-downs and an array of headlines that include “Bohemian Crapsody” and “Hello and F— Off!”
Reinvented as the bad girl of rock journalism, Dolly becomes a star in short order – but hell, everything in the movie happens in short order. She’s mean to everybody off the page, too, walking out of school and humiliating her parents because she pays the rent. She also has lots of very enthusiastic sex, which is kind of disconcerting: If the film wants to make a statement about body positivity and a healthy attitude toward sex, maybe the good Johanna should get a turn, too.
In truth, “Dolly” is a terrible rock critic who also rips her colleagues for not believing what they write, an ironic criticism coming from a person who saved her own career by choosing to hate everybody. The more Johanna becomes an unfeeling beast, the clearer it is that the movie is bound to go looking for her heart – it’s just a little surprising when it comes as quickly as it does, immediately after she trashes virtually everybody in her life.
Then again, the entire story unfolds with questionable alacrity: Johanna reinvents herself three times in about an hour, and Feldstein pretty much sells it every time, partly because things never slow down long enough for you to start questioning what’s going on. “I became evil,” Johanna tells her wall of heroes, “but it’s July now, and I’m over it.”
If you stop look at it too closely, “How to Build a Girl” definitely doesn’t ring true, not that it’s always supposed to; at the same time, the way it rushes from silly to vicious to sappy can put you in a tonal whirl. But it’s also fun, and not insignificant in the way it puts an unconventional heroine on screen and then gives her the agency to act both stupid and smart as she sees fit.
After all, you don’t have to buy the details of this particular story to understand that it’s a good thing to have it in the library.
19 Movie and TV Casts That Reunited Remotely During Coronavirus, From 'The Goonies' to 'Full House' (Photos)
It's not just your old high school and college buddies that are using stay-at-home quarantines during the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to reconnect with you over Zoom. The casts and teams behind over a dozen beloved shows or films have reunited remotely in recent weeks just to pass the time. Many of the stars are doing conversations for charity, while others are staging full remote episodes or special performances just to perk up a fan's day. In case you missed them earlier, here are all the reunions that took place since the shutdowns began, and we'll add more as they inevitably take place.
Josh Gad/YouTube
"The Goonies"
On April 27, Josh Gad hosted a reunion with almost the entire full cast of the '80s cult classic "The Goonies," including Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Martha Plimpton, Kerri Green, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Qyan, Corey Feldman, Joe Pantoliano and Robert Davi. Gad also spoke with writer Chris Columbus and even got the 90-year-old director Richard Donner to join the call, though not without some technical difficulties first. The cast asked each other questions about what reactions they get from fans and even re-enacted a handful of scenes from the film.
Warner Bros.
"Hamilton"
After John Krasinski had a wave of support for the first episode his makeshift YouTube series "Some Good News" in which he chatted with his co-star on "The Office" Steve Carell, he then surprised a fan of "Mary Poppins Returns" who said her favorite musical was "Hamilton" and that she missed out on a performance of the show because of the coronavirus. Lin-Manuel Miranda then brought together the cast of the original Broadway production, including Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr, Okieriete Onaodowan, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Jonathan Groff, to sing the show's opening number.
Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage
"Friday Night Lights"
The cast of the TV series "Friday Night Lights" reunited for Global Citizen's "Together at Home," with the cast specifically gathering to virtually watch the pilot episode of the series. Adrianne Palicki, Scott Porter, Derek Phillips, Aimee Teegarden, Gaius Charles and Brad Leland took part, though stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton couldn't attend. On the Zoom call, the cast also recalled how competitive actor Taylor Kitsch was playing flag football.
NBC
"Melrose Place"
For the first time since 2012, Heather Locklear and the cast of "Melrose Place" reunited as part of the YouTube series "Stars in the House" to support The Actors Fund. Josie Bissett, Thomas Calabro, Marcia Cross, Laura Leighton, Heather Locklear, Doug Savant, Grant Show, Andrew Shue, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Daphne Zuniga all took part to reminisce about the soapy Fox drama.
Fox
"Contagion"
While not strictly a reunion, the cast of Steven Soderbergh's pandemic outbreak drama "Contagion" banded together to help provide PSAs with advice about social distancing, hand washing and more. Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle were among the first set to record the informational videos, which were made in partnership with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the same school that also consulted on "Contagion" the film.
Warner Bros.
"That Thing You Do!"
The members of the fictional band The Wonders (or The Oneders) from Tom Hanks' film "That Thing You Do!" reunited for the first time since the film's release in 1996. Band members Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech, Ethan Embry and Steve Zahn all joined up with co-star Liv Tyler in honor of Adam Schlesinger. Schlesinger wrote the Oscar-nominated title song from the film and shortly before the reunion died of COVID-19.
Twentieth Century Fox
"High School Musical"
The cast of "High School Musical" didn't stream their Zoom reunion call, which from Instagram photos shared by the cast included director Kenny Ortega along with Truman Alfaro, Vanessa Hudgens, Paul Becker, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale. They did however participate in Disney's "Family Singalong" show, with star Zac Efron delivering a special message in lieu of being able to perform.
Disney Channel
"Parks and Recreation"
The cast of "Parks and Recreation" performed an entire virtual episode as part of a standalone, scripted special on NBC inspired by social distancing. Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O'Heir and Retta all reprised their roles from the sitcom series to raise money for Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund. The episode aired Thursday, April 30 on NBC.
NBC
"Full House"
The cast of "Full House," including John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber and creator Jeff Franklin, all imagined a parody intro to their famous '90s sitcom for a brief TikTok video they called "Full Quarantine." It showed Saget sanitizing a Swiffer and Coulier fishing a slice of pizza out of a pond and ended with the caption, "unlike 'Full House,' this will all go away."
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
"My So-Called Life"
The cast of the sitcom "My So-Called Life" held a private Zoom reunion call that included Wilson Cruz, Claire Danes, Bess Armstrong, Devon Odessa, Tom Irwin, Mary Kay Place, Devon Gummersall and A.J. Langer. The series creator Winnie Holzman and her husband Paul Dooley also joined the call, though Jared Leto was not present.
ABC
"Victorious"
The stars of the Nickelodeon TV series "Victorious," featuring Victoria Justice and Ariana Grande, were already meant to gather around this time for the 10th anniversary of the series, but instead did so virtually. Elizabeth Gillies, Leon Thomas III, Matt Bennett, Avan Jogia, Daniella Monet and Eric Lange, as well as the show’s creator Dan Schneider, all participated in the call along with Grande and Justice.
Nickelodeon
"The Maze Runner"
"The Maze Runner" actress Kaya Scodelario shared a screenshot on Instagram of her Zoom call with her co-stars from the YA adventure trilogy, including Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter, Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Draden and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. "We survived the Glade, the Scorch & whatever the third one was about. We got this," Scodelario said in the post.
20th Century Studios
"Jessie"
The cast of the Disney Channel series "Jessie" dedicated their gathering to Cameron Boyce, who passed away last year at age 20. Star Debby Ryan appeared on the episode of "Stars at Home" along with Peyton List, Skai Jackson, Karan Brar and Kevin Chamberlin.
Disney Channel
"Taxi"
Another classic TV franchise with an unexpected reunion, the cast of the sitcom "Taxi" got together for an hour-long chat for "Stars in the House," including Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Christopher Lloyd and Marilu Henner.
NBC
"Chuck"
EW rallied the cast and crew of the NBC comedy series "Chuck" to not only reminisce about the show but also perform a table read of a fan-favorite episode from, the ninth episode of Season 3, "Chuck Versus the Beard." Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky and Mark Christopher Lawrence all took part in the reunion, as did "Chuck" co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.
NBC
"The Nanny"
Fran Drescher led the cast of her sitcom "The Nanny" for a live, virtual table read of the 1993 pilot episode. Madeline Zima, Charles Shaughnessy, Jonathan Penner, Alex Sternin, Ann Hampton Callaway, DeeDee Rescher, Peter Marc Jacobson, Renee Taylor, Daniel Davis, Nicholle Tom, Lauren Lane, Rachel Chagall and Benjamin Salisbury all took part in the reunion.
CBS
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
Will Smith reunited with his cast members from "The Fresh Prince" as part of the two-part season finale for his Snapchat series "Will at Home." He was joined by Alfonso Ribeiro, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Daphne Maxwell Reid and Joseph Marcell. Smith and "The Fresh Prince" cast also paid tribute to the actor who played Uncle Phil, James Avery. Smith recalled that the reason his character's name on the show is Will Smith is because Ribeiro told him that people would be calling him by his character's name for the rest of his life.
Chris Cuffaio/NBCU Photo Bank
"Back to the Future"
For the second episode of his "Reunited Apart" show, Josh Gad virtually reunited Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson to talk what Gad called a "perfect" movie in "Back to the Future." Lloyd said the film was at one point supposed to be called "Spaceman From Pluto."
Universal
"Community"
Nearly the entire cast of NBC's sitcom "Community" will reunite on May 18 to do a live table read of the Season 5 episode "Cooperative Polygraphy." Series stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong and Donald Glover, who left the series after season 5, will join creator Dan Harmon to read the Season 5 episode titled “Cooperative Polygraphy.” The special will stream on the “Community” YouTube page on May 18 at 2 p.m. PT and will also include a fan Q&A.
NBC
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Stars from ”Chuck,“ ”The Nanny,“ ”Frasier,“ ”Taxi“ and more have taken part in table reads and Q&A specials
It's not just your old high school and college buddies that are using stay-at-home quarantines during the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to reconnect with you over Zoom. The casts and teams behind over a dozen beloved shows or films have reunited remotely in recent weeks just to pass the time. Many of the stars are doing conversations for charity, while others are staging full remote episodes or special performances just to perk up a fan's day. In case you missed them earlier, here are all the reunions that took place since the shutdowns began, and we'll add more as they inevitably take place.