Fanning’s Latest Film’s Plot Raises Eyebrows

By Broadside Correspondent Joshua Hylton

It seems like only yesterday that we were watching Dakota Fanning star in family friendly films like Cat in the Hat and Charlotte’s Web. She was adorable, irresistible, and talented. When she took on roles in War of the Worlds, Hide and Seek, and Man on Fire, she played the child in peril, but was still just as precious as before. Her new film, Hounddog, shows her maturing as an actress. She is not just a cute little girl anymore; she is a force to be reckoned with. Fanning puts on a mesmerizing performance that will shock and amaze even the most jaded movie-goers. Too bad she didn’t have a better script to work with.

Fanning stars as Lewellen, a 12-year-old girl living in the 1950s South who loves Elvis’ music, particularly his cover of Big Momma Thornton’s song, “Hounddog.” Elvis is coming to her town to play a live show, however she lives in an abusive life with a poor family who simply cannot afford much of anything. In one of her attempts to get a ticket, she is forced down and raped by an older boy. She loses sight of what she loves and must learn how to overcome her broken spirit that is weighing heavily on her heart.

You know how some movies seem to have a scene or two that don’t really seem necessary to the overall picture? This whole film is like that. Outside of a few important key moments, scene after scene felt like small, insignificant parts strung together. Plodding along at an uninteresting pace, few things that happened were relevant to the story.

The main plotline is where the heart of the film stands. Unfortunately, there were useless side stories that mucked it up. Early in the movie, her father is struck by lightning and inexplicably loses his ability to think intelligently, which is unimportant to Lewellen’s story. I found this and other unnecessary additions to the story to be confusing. Why is her father slow now? It is never explained. Along with others, this scene was simply filler to make this production into a feature length film.

Much has been said about the controversy surrounding Hounddog, thanks to its rape scene with Fanning, who is only 14-years-old. North Carolina, where the film was shot, actually called for future scripts to be approved in advance because of it. Since we all know Fanning as this innocent young child she has portrayed in previous films, it is indeed a difficult scene to watch.

However, that scene is the least of the film’s worries. It drags on for far too long, despite only being about an hour and a half, and ends up going nowhere. It’s impossible not to feel sympathy for Lewellen during the rape, but there was nothing else in the entire film to grasp onto to really make me care. We have seen this type of story before: a girl leading an abusive life has to overcome difficulties and escape. Not to undermine the powerful nature of that story, but after seeing it so many times, it loses a lot of its impact. The script is disjointed, the side stories are dispensable and the supporting cast is weak. Fanning takes her next big step in her career with a remarkable performance. It is just a shame that it had to be in Hounddog.