Not even a minute into director-writer Nick Guthe’s debut feature film, and the stage is already set for human beings doing despicable acts juxtaposed against the glossy, Technicolor veneer of Southern California.
Mini, played by “Thirteen” star Nikki Reed, is a saucy, confident teenager who definitely knows what she wants – devoid of moral judgment, that is. Enter her never-quite-there mother – brilliantly played by Carrie-Anne Moss – and her stepfather Martin (Alec Baldwin), and the trio forms a nuclear family unit that spirals downward into an elaborate scheme of lies, sex, drugs and murder. It is one thing to watch immoral acts being done in the context of immorality. It is quite another when they are done to justify moral decisions, none of which the main characters (perhaps save the tentative cop, played by Luke Wilson) possess. Despite the subject matter, this dark comedy is a fun race to see which of the lot wins out in the end.
Photos: “Mini’s First Time” premiere
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine
Attendees included Nikki Reed, Jeff Goldblum, D.J. Qualls, Adam Yauch, Holly Hunter and Rick Fox.
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