The Cute Girl Network

Jack and Jane are modern young people in love. He works for minimum wage selling soup from a cart, and she’s proud of her skateboarding scars. Their dates consist of free activities, like visiting the vending-machine graveyard or listening to vinyl albums. Complications arise when Jane is confronted by the Network, “a loose alliance of smart, beautiful young women” who share information “to prevent yet another awesome girl from falling for yet another lame guy.” Jack doesn’t pass muster with them, so Jane’s got to decide: “sisters or misters?” Jack’s good heart is a tonic to her, compared to the sexism she has to put up with as a skater chick, even though the other girls hate how absentminded and clumsy he is. Flood’s tight close-ups keep the attention on the characters’ feelings and help the snappy dialogue bite. The ultimate message—that someone may be right for you without meeting your friends’ approval—is refreshing and reassuring. There’s also a lesson about female solidarity only going so far, particularly if you’re not a typical girl. Altogether it’s a fun, fresh take on romance with a fascinating subtext about gender relations. (Nov.)