Review for Cracks

Cracks is the story of a diving team in an Irish all girl's boarding school. These girls, led by the very bitchy Radfield, are the elite of the school and are led by their teacher Miss G (Eva Green). All the girls have a slight infatuation with Miss G (Well, who wouldn't?) and she is quite happy to teach these girls the ways of the world.  In teaching them to dive, she also seems to have picked up her technique from Yoda advising the girls 'Don't think, do!!!' Their world starts to unravel with the arrival of a Spanish pupil, Fiamma who is exotic, but does not seek the approval of anyone, not even Miss G. The sensuality and barriers between pupil and teachers, adult and child continually break down until you question exactly who has the crush on who?

Cracks is a strange film to watch and I think the reason is that I'm not sure exactly what it is trying to be. At times it feels like a female version of Dead Poets Society and then it goes into Heavenly Creatures with a little bit of Sirens thrown in. Comparison have been made to Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and though I can see the comparisons, it is a bit like saying 'This film is not original in any way. In fact we stole the setting, the characters and most of the scenes'. At times I also found this film deeply uncomfortable to watch, as we see Miss G try and seduce Fiamma and act inappropriately with the other girls it is almost like watching the work of a sexual predator grooming its victim. It would be interesting to wonder how this film would have been met if it had been a boy's school as the setting.

The extras consist of simply interviews with Jordan Scott, Maria Valverde, Eva Green and Juno Temple and though interesting enough are really nothing special and unless you enjoyed the film it's doubtful whether you'll bother watching them at all.

Let's face it, if you are the daughter of Ridley Scott, you're hardly going to become a carpenter are you? The debut of his daughter, Jordan Scott looks and is filmed beautifully and there are touches of brilliance in it. However, Cracks feels a bit like every period 19th Century/Early 20th Century England piece I have ever seen and does nothing to actual establish itself as a standout film. It is true that the acting by the cast is fine and of course Eva Green is so hot that it is reason enough to watch, but the script is a little cliché and I can't imagine anyone watching this more than once.