Directed and written by actress Lori Petty based on her own life as a teenager with a drug-addicted prostitute as her mother.A young Jennifer Lawrence of Hunger Games fame play Agnus (which is supposed to be Lori as a teen, why the name change I'm not sure but I guess it doesn't matter) and she does so really well.Selma Blair plays her mother, although she's not really worthy the title of a mother in all honesty.Anyways overall the acting is very good and it has a lot of really good scenes but the narrative is a little off at times to the point it gets a little confusing, for instance a long while in the movie I thought Chloe Grace Moretz character was Agnus when she was younger but that was not the case, and the job scene just felt like another movie with Jennifer Lawrence playing another character.Anyway if you can look aside stuff like that this still is definitely worth watching.I give it a 6.5/10.

Before JL was known, she lit up the screen here, among many other great performances in a true yet, I guess in one way, astounding story based on ex actress, Petty's childhood. Lawrence plays the the oldest sister to two youngin's whose irresponsible mother (Selma Blair) is a drunk and a heroin shooter. Her lover (Bokeem Woodbine) and pimp is having it off with Lawrence, in some intimately hot scenes, where I could see a talent on the rise. In this notorious house, there's pimping, boozing, partying, and of course poker playing. Lawrence does of steal the movie, really making an impact on the viewer, where surrounding performances are not to be underrated, particularly Blair, and a surprising David Allen Grier, as a blind barfly. Woodbine holds his own too, where he's always been an impressive acting talent, from his start in Jason's Lyric. His violent and threatening air to his character was just right, and made it's point. It's some of his best work. What goes on in this house, as from Point Break's Petty's personal biography, is certainly arresting. We even see a flash shot of a very young girl, getting groomed for prostitution, from JL's POV, watching outside. It's an eye opening movie indeed, and first time director, Petty, has brought something special here, in a poignant film that grabs you from end to finish. Definitely one for JL fans, to see how she started off. It's the acting which really makes it work, and again those JL kissing scenes, mmmmmmnnn.

There is a place in the small Iowa community called the "poker house." People of all kinds, but mostly black, congregate in this smoky place for poker, alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. Not a very pretty place, visually or morally.Jennifer Lawrence was about 16 or 17 during filming, all in the Chicago areas, and she is the main character Agnes who is 14. She and her two younger sisters mostly have to fend for themselves, their mother (Selma Blair, almost unrecognizable) is never fully sober and even if she were does not seem to have any "mothering" skills. Agnes is actually the surrogate mother for the two younger ones. Agnes is also bright, makes straight A's, writes poetry about her gritty life, and is the star basketball player for the school team.So this is her story, about how she manages to stay above the grime and eventually carve out a better life. Jennifer Lawrence even at her young age is simply superb in her role as Agnes. It was also nice to see Chloë Grace Moretz in an early role as Agnes's little sister Cammie.SPOILERS: In a good role for him, Bokeem Woodbine is Duval , basically Agnes's mom's pimp. But he also takes a liking to Agnes, they spend long scenes kissing, and her voice-over tells how much she likes his lips. Agnes is young and not wise to the real world, and she thinks he loves her. Then one day of kissing leads to rape. She is shocked, she gets in the tub and washes herself frantically. All trust has been betrayed, but she pulls herself together to go late to the game but plays and scores to erase a large deficit and win the game. The rape was her wake-up call, it influenced her to care for herself and make a career for herself.

The abrupt way the film cut off just as it was starting to take form, made it the worst ending to a movie I've seen in a long time! And, we go to the matinée most every wk end, rent & watch a lot of movies. The acting from Selma, Bokeem and Jennifer Lawrence is truly convincing & professional in this film. Also, acting by the children & teens are exceptionally well. Unfortunately, it couldn't save the film considering this isn't one of those films we could sit back, relax & enjoy. In most parts, the script seemed incomplete & chaotic, such as, forcing viewers to put in work second guessing exactly what roles certain characters played in the main character's life(Agnes), who was who & what was the point of a few interesting scenes w/ no outcome(which eventually made them irrelevant). That caused the film to drag on more often than not. It was like trying to use your own imagination while listening to someone in a drunk stupor (and depressed), tell you about 3 days & fifteen minutes out of 150 chapters of their unstable, hectic life. Nearly as bad was the way it transitioned from one scene to the next & careened from plot to plot, such as the connection we never make to the scenes w/ the youngest sister(Chloe Moretz). Matter of fact, we aren't aware Agnes & Cammie are sisters or even know one another until Agnes picks 2 sisters up instead of 1 off an overpass at night, and they drive off five min before the ending! None of us could figure out if the boring scenes w/ a little girl "always" in a complete different setting were flashbacks to when Agnes was a little girl, or her mother. Lastly, if watching a 13 yr old **** tease & bust slob with a black pimp is interesting to you, and you can believe he allows her to sit across from him & call his peers n*(ggers)during their conversations, than forces himself on her 10 minutes before the movie cuts off, and unlike other 'based on true event" films...we can't research what happens after or to other characters...along with all the above, than this miserable movie is right up your alley. Enjoy! because I doubt they'll be another made like it (thank God)