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Children of the Porn

Jasira (Summer Bishil) has a bewitching power over men. She can't seem to leave the house without several guys, the older the merrier, treating her like the latest Apple gadget they simply must add to their collection. They don't let the fact that she is merely 13 years old deter them--it raises a "caution" sign at best, never a "stop."  
 
If that concept makes you dry heave, then congratulations, you're not nearly as twisted as the characters that inhabit the world of the troubling-yet-occasionally-interesting "Towelhead." Based on the novel by Alicia Erian, and adapted/directed by "American Beauty"/"Six Feet Under" scribe Alan Ball, the story follows an Arab-American girl whose clueless mother (Maria Bello) ships her off to live with her strict father (Peter Macdissi) in Houston. While residing in the Texas 'burbs, she gets her period for the first time (her dad bans her from using tampons), has her first orgasm (from looking at dirty magazines) and lands her first boyfriend (who she is ordered to stop seeing because he is, um, black).

Teen angst is rough enough on its own merits, especially when combating racial slurs in the hallways and throughout the neighborhood, but throw in a creepy army reservist next door (Aaron Eckhart) and it only gets trickier. He instantly takes an inappropriate liking to Jasira ("It's a very pretty name for a very pretty girl," he says with a frightening grin upon their first introduction). Eckhart embodies the caliber of cad that tries to pawn candy off to playground-bound youngsters--only with a better hairdo. There's a scene of them having margaritas in a Mexican restaurant that channels the train-wreck discomfort found in moments between Dylan Baker's character and his son in Todd Solondz's "Happiness."

Fittingly, "Towelhead" is Alan Ball's best impersonation of the demented director with a splash of Larry Clark ("Kids"). It often hits the queasy button but remains strangely engrossing; there are enough gasp-induced laughs to deflect from the overt sexuality. And the people aren't all monsters: As one of the sole beams of light penetrating through the bleakness, Toni Collette plays a pregnant, doting neighbor who seeks to protect Jasira--hey, someone has to.

Although it's well-acted and provocative, the trouble with "Towelhead," if the title doesn't sound enough of an alarm, is its unapologetic lack of boundaries. Does a dead kitten in the freezer add anything of substance to the movie? How about not one but two accounts of men shaving Jasira? What made "American Beauty" so effective is that it touched upon risqué subject matter but left something to the imagination. "Towelhead" lets it all dangle out there without any regard for decency. A little restraint goes a long way, folks.