Girl In Progress (2012)

28% of critics liked it
(39 reviews)
73% of users liked it
(10,347 ratings)

Grace (Mendes) is a single mom. She is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Hartford (Matthew Modine), to give her daughter, Ansiedad (Ramirez) the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad's English teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), introduces her students to… More Grace (Mendes) is a single mom. She is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Hartford (Matthew Modine), to give her daughter, Ansiedad (Ramirez) the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad's English teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mom. While Grace becomes preoccupied with the increasing affections of her co-worker (Eugenio Derbez), Ansiedad enlists the help of her loyal friend, Tavita (Raini Rodriguez), to plot her shortcut to "adulthood". But as her misguided plan unravels, Ansiedad and Grace must learn that sometimes growing-up means acting your age. -- (C) Pantelion

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Patricia Riggen
Written By: Hiram Martinez
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: May 11, 2012 Limited
Studio: Lionsgate/Pantelion Films

Critic Reviews

William Goss, Film.com
Progress acknowledges clichés but has little interest in actually subverting them, instead growing more predictable and sentimental as it goes along.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
It never gives us a character we truly care about, or a consistent reason for watching.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
Girl in Progress seems like a work in progress.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
The direction ... doesn't do justice to the fairly novel concept of a young woman consciously constructing her own coming-of-age scenario.
Rafer Guzman, Newsday
A comedy-drama that veers between silly and serious but can't reconcile the opposing tones.
Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times
Smart girls do stupid things, there's no doubt about it. But Ansiedad's bad behavior is supposed to be both faux and earnest, a premise that doesn't jell.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
... as amateurish as a second-rate, high-school drama club.
Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix
As rites of passage go, Girl in Progress is a step backward for the genre.
Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate
Contrived and cliche-filled, culminating in a predictable conclusion.
Mark Olsen, Boxoffice Magazine
Less a misfire than a missed opportunity, Girl In Progress squanders its time in high school, neglecting the mother-daughter story that forms its more interesting core.
Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.com
Any attempt to provide insight into various real-life issues, such as teenage rebellion or the perils of single motherhood, is compromised by the film's predicable reliance on feel-good sentimentality.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
It wants audiences to know it's in on the joke though it's not always apparent that there even is a joke in the first place.
Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media
Coming-of-age story cautions against forcing adulthood.
David Noh, Film Journal International
Coming-of-age tale has a lot of appealing elements which help counteract its weaknesses.
JimmyO, JoBlo's Movie Emporium
While Girl In Progress isn't a bad film, it just isn't good enough to really say anything all that meaningful about the task of becoming an adult in a challenging world.
Dave White, Movies.com
What is this movie? Is it meant to be heartwarming? Funny? Satirical? Moving?
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Girl in Progress is an old story about a young girl told in a smart way, and that's something you don't see every day, no matter how many times you think you've seen it before.
Grae Drake, Movies.com
Even in all its movie-cuteness, Girl in Progress keeps its feet on the ground just enough to keep you watching.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Earnest but forced, [it] has its heart in the right place, but is conspicuously short on brain power.

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Jason C

Girl In Progress takes a good cast and places them in an unoriginal story with an unoriginal script. It makes sure to cover all the standard cliches for a movie like this. The cast is so strong that they almost make it work in spite of the bad story. Eva Mendes and Cierra Ramirez… More
Girl In Progress takes a good cast and places them in an unoriginal story with an unoriginal script. It makes sure to cover all the standard cliches for a movie like this. The cast is so strong that they almost make it work in spite of the bad story. Eva Mendes and Cierra Ramirez have good chemistry as the mother and daughter struggling to make sense of their lives. Each gave very good individual performances. Cierra Ramirez did a very good job for someone having so little screen time. Matthew Modine and Patricia Arquette come out of big screen obscurity to give two good supporting performances. There's no need to spend money on Girl In Progress, but that doesn't mean fans of coming of age stories shouldn't watch it on a movie channel or regular TV when it's aired.

Cast

            Eva Mendes as Grace

            Matthew Modine as Dr. Harford

            Cierra Ramirez as Ansiedad

            Patricia Arquette as Ms. Armstrong

            Eugenio Derbez as Mission Impossible

            Raini Rodriguez as Tavita

            Russell Peters as Emile

            Landon Liboiron as Trevor

            Brenna O'Brien as Valerie

            Ana Maria Estrada as Tavita's Mom

            Kendall Cross as Alice Harford

            Dana Michael Woods as Gilliam

            Robin Douglas as Olga

            Jocelyne Loewen as Becky

            Blu Mankuma as Principal

            Rady Panov as Ferguson

            Bernadette Beck as Shannon

            Doreen Ramus as Maude

            Elizabeth McLaughlin as Teacher

            Margot Brenner as Chloe

            Colin Foo as Lo Mein

            Lesley Ewan as Nurse

            Patti Allan as Woman

            Sean Mathieson as Boy George

            June B. Wilde as Dream Teacher

            Sean Campbell as Uniformed Officer

            Sean Michael Kyer as Harford's Son

            Michael P. Northey as Alpha  Male

            Lossen Chambers as Lady Customer

            Tiere Skovkye as Jezabel

            Richard Harmon as Bay Boy

            Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Maid

            Madison Desjarlais as Girl

            Mario Casoria as Gardener

            Espinoza Paz
            
            Don Cheto
            
See full cast