Towelhead

Aroview: The writer of AMERICAN BEAUTY and SIX FEET UNDER brings an acclaimed novel to the screen in this dark and uncomfortable suburban drama focused on a young Arab-American girl struggling to come to terms with her burgeoning sexuality against the backdrop of the Gulf War.

Deliberately provocative, frequently manipulative, and at times luridly gratuitous, writer-director Ball stirs up some incendiary social and political critique a la AMERICAN BEAUTY, but lacks both the stylistic flair and the narrative-knitting skills needed to elevate this above what mostly amounts to cheap trangression and self-righteous finger-pointing in the service of an agenda. Despite having only the barest of plots with which to extend their theme-laden characters, archly conservative Macdissi and naively curious teen Bishil operate successfully at different ends of the personality spectrum.