Three Girls and a Marching Band

Our Song fills the streets of New York with hot, sweaty rhythm

Comments (0) By Gregory Weinkauf Wednesday, Sep 12 2001

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Kerry Washington, Anna Simpson and Melissa Martinez in Our Song

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Opens Sept. 14 at the Tivoli.

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It's moments such as these that give Our Song its edge, helping it veer out of the inescapable traps of cheap melodrama. Whether we're witnessing Joy stumbling through an assessment of shoplifting ("What'd you took?") or declaiming Western medicine ("I was born in the cesarean section of the hospital -- that's why I'm so fucked up!"), the sorrow and confusion are given a flawed but relatable voice. McKay has a gift for working with actors, and it shows.

Where the movie may lag, for some, is in its somewhat meandering storyline, which doesn't exactly take pains to keep a viewer who gets the main theme (teenage girlhood in the city is rough) from drifting a little. By the time one of the more conventionally "entertaining" scenes rolls around (involving a defense of vegetarianism and a white boy who -- wonders!-- speaks Spanish), the movie has already made its points, and the rest is coasting. Still, even after it's over, Our Song sticks with you. Reflecting on it, one truly feels the powerful sense of challenges overcome.