Towelhead

Recently saw Towelhead (AKA Nothing is Private) , an awesome but extremely difficult film about a confused half-Lebanese teenage girl growing up in Texas and - particularly- her sexual confusion and distant parents.

It had a cinema release in the USA in 2008 and did miniscule business - unsurprising given the subject matter - but great performances by (inter alia) Aaron Eckhart, the teenage girl (Summer Bishil) and Toni Collette. It was written for the screen (adapted from a novel) and directed by Alan Ball (6 Feet Under, True Blood, American Beauty, etc).

Aaron Eckart has an absolute lock on playing seemingly all-American but rotten-on-the-inside characters (In the Company of Men, Thank You for Smoking) and he is perfect in Towelhead.

I recommend it next time you're in the mood for something malignant but sort-of-beautiful-and-hopeful.