Too Young to Die (1990)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Most of us can't even begin to imagine what this girl, Amanda-Sue "Mandy" Bradley went through, but this movie follows the last three years of her tragic and crazy life working as a teenage stripper to survive, while under the thumb of her new adult boyfriend (more like pimp), Billie Canton.At the age of thirteen, Mandy is living in a low-class trailer park, and most of her neighbors, especially Mickey, are respectable and caring people nonetheless. Inside Mandy's trailer though is a clueless, self-centered mother who leaves Mandy with her stepfather, Harvey. Harvey is a disgusting, drunken redneck and also a pedophile who rapes Mandy repeatedly until she marries her boyfriend (still at the age of thirteen!) and he quickly leaves her to join the army, leaving her to realize that her parents have run off and left her behind. With no place left to go, Mandy ends up meeting Billie, who gives her powerful drugs and signs her up to work as an underage stripper. As her life goes on, her sanity diminishes until one day the unthinkable happens.Now, at the age of fifteen, Mandy is about to go on trial for murder, facing death by asphyxiation (chemical gas), and only her compassionate lawyer, Buddy, can try to help defend her case as he learns more about the abuse she suffered at the hands of those she trusted.Too Young to Die? is an incredibly sad movie, and an insight to the death penalty and justice system when it comes to children. Here in Canada there is no death penalty, the maximum sentence is life in prison, so watching this movie was very surprising to me, although it is almost twenty five years old so the laws have probably changed since the times when teenagers could be gassed to death (at least I hope so). The soundtrack was great, the acting was very good and it's a movie that everyone should watch at least once.

Due to the seriousness of her crime, Amanda is being tried as an adult, for murder, and faces execution if guilty.Amanda is 15 years old.This film is based on a true story. Unfortunately, this means absolutely nothing in the film represents what actually happened to Amanda... except perhaps that she murdered someone and was found guilty.So, viewing the film in it's own right, I think it does an excellent job of presenting us with information, with a scenario, and asking us many questions about the legal system, and the strange institution that is the death penalty. The subject is a minor, only 15yrs old. Alcohol and drugs are involved, and she is only 15yrs old. Sex, prostitution, and rape by a family member, and she is 15yrs old. Married, legally, at 15yrs old. Up in front of the beak, death penalty, possibly facing the end of her life, at 15yrs old.In fact, having read my own paragraph above, I find it incredible that this is a true story... I mean, how could all this happen, and then a jury of adults be asked to decide on a death penalty for a child who has been through all this? Madness, to be sure. Perhaps a jury of 15yr olds would be better? After all, are we not supposed to be judged by our peers? The situations in the film are well presented. The confusion and the strangeness not blindfolding us, and not brainwashing either. We are allowed to think all the way through this movie... and I guess careful thought about this subject is what was needed. All actors do well, especially Lewis, who develops a very whole, very believable character throughout.One criticism might be that while the film carries an 18 rating, what we actually see is , well, Disney-fied. The subject is wholly unpleasant, true or not, but the edges are certainly smoothed. It is presented in a Saturday matinée format, when it could quite easily, and maybe more truthfully, be presented in Natural Born Killers reality styley, and thus deserve it's rating.Well worth watching... thought provoking, well acted, and deserves a "7" from me!

Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis both turn in good performances in `Too Young To Die'. Together, the two really make the audience believe the roles are real; unfortunately, the roles are real as the movie is based on a true story. The movie has not one upbeat moment in it, then again, it's not suppose to, as the subject matter-the true story-can be described as nothing other than a depressing tragedy. Can our society condone the killing of children in the name of justice, even for crimes like the one described in this story? Or, should children be held to a different, lesser, standard than an adult? `Too Young To Die' does not answer this question, but it makes one think about it. So, if you want a good, thought provoking movie, this is the one, but if you're looking for a laugh, get a different film, because this one will bring you only tears.

(Spoilers Included!!)This is not a "feature film", its one of those "movie of the week" that was done on a small budget to tell a compelling story.The story is a bad one that ends up worse. A very pretty young teen female, with a washed up middle aged mother who lives in a trailer environment, gets sexually abused by her "almost married for a year" husband. When the daughter tells her about the abuse and asks her mother to have this man leave, the mother makes the daughter feel at fault and does not ask the man to leave, but for HER to. Her life gets worse, no one -- and I strongly repeat -- no one cares to morally assist this girl. She then deals with more awful men and a bottom of the barrel life just trying to survive on what little sense she's got, until she is involved in murder.Now a personal note: I feel that when you kill someone, you have to pay the consequences. It DOES NOT matter what age you are. While it is sad that this teen, her life, and how she makes decisions fell the wrong way, she participated in murder. That being said, should she have gotten a death penalty in my view? In this case, no. Should she have gotten life in prison with out the possibility of parole? In this case..no. But that is the point, for us to search inside ourselves and understand what WAS best for this teen --in this case. There is no one ideal/one fit for everybody and everything. Jail and death are not the "end all beat all" of all crimes committed. A life was taken -- never lose sight on that, but why that life was taken is of importance and justice for that life being taken is also just as important.But this person's life was taken too. Although not physically dead..she was being killed for a long time which led her to believe that committing death on another was her only 'rational' option led on by another irrational human being. So what do you do? How do you handle this kind of criminal offense? What is best for her, society, justice to the dead? That is the question that we are still trying to answer.This film is as good as it gets for "TV". Don't expect more out of it. It does what it needs to do, provoke thought and conversation. Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt do a fine job, it's worth a peek.