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Danielle Catanzariti sees Hollywood from down under

Esther Blueburger "befriends a duck, talks to God through the toilet and break-dances at her bat mitzvah." In other words, Hey! Hey! It's Esther Blueburger is my kind of movie.

Replace the sprinkles with braces and you've almost got a younger Betty Suarez. The story is a little Betty-like, too. Danielle Catanzariti makes her film debut as Esther, a 13-year-old Jewish girl who doesn't fit in at her private girls' school — or with her family. And she's nervous about her bat mitzvah.

Things start to change for Esther when she meets Sunni, played by Whale Rider's Keisha Castle-Hughes, the "tough girl" at the local public school.

Esther decides to switch from private school to public school — without telling her mom — and reinvents herself, with help from Sunni and her mother, Mary, played by the wonderful Toni Collette. Here's the trailer.



If I wasn't convinced before, seeing Collette on a motorcycle makes this film a must-see. It opens in Australia in March; hopefully we'll see it in the U.S. soon after.

Although this is Catanzariti's first movie, she has been a stage actress in Australia for several years. In fact, Cate Blanchett handpicked her to star in Blackbird, which Blanchett is directing for the Sydney Theater Company. The play is getting good reviews from critics, despite its controversial subject matter, pedophilia. Catanzariti's next film appearance will be in Elise, with Natalie Imbruglia, and she's hoping a Hollywood career is on the horizon. With a start like this, I doubt she'll have to wait for long.

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  • Sutti's picture

    Hey! Hey!

    I like the look of that! I'll have to find out when the UK release date is for it. Cheers!
    perfectflaw75's picture

    Hey! Hey!

    This looks like a definite must-see for me :) 

    _ _ _ _ _

    "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." (Dr. Seuss)

    deathbyblonde's picture

    Aww

    It looks cute.  I'm definitely seeing that one.
    bbkf101's picture

    nice!

    "oh our parents are friends."

    "and what do they do?"

    "they do drugs."

    LOL...

    Hawk's picture

    Grrls

    I love Toni Collette and Whale Rider is a must for every girl.
    lovecatcadillac's picture

    I am so down with this movie

    I am so down with this movie *beams* I laughed out loud during the trailer, because it reminded me so much of being a young teenager (specifically the part where she eats her lunch in the classroom while all the perfect ordinary girls out on the oval sit in circles that deliberately leave no room for anyone else, and all bite into their sandwiches in unison). Danielle Cantanzariti looks like a rare talent, and I already adore Keisha Castle-Hughes and Toni Collette.
    Gweeky's picture

    Well...

    Rushmore meets Little Miss Sunshine? Weird people and dysfunctional families? I'm in!

     

    kshadow8's picture

    Definitely want to see this one . . .

    And since I'm in Australia, it's not that far away. I'll have to check the captioned movies list to see if it'll be shown. I hope it is, otherwise I'll be waiting for the DVD release.
    angel winters's picture

    alright

    this is one movie i will make a point to see...I used to move around a lot and would have to reinvent myself all the time when i was a kid...I can relate on many levels.

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