‘TOWELHEAD,” wherein a Muslim-American girl faces all manner of abuse in a Houston suburb, is a blackly funny provocation from Alan Ball, the genius who wrote “American Beauty” and created “Six Feet Under.”
Ball’s directing debut doesn’t reach the heights of either of these earlier works, and some will find its incendiary mix of politics, race and adolescent sexual awakening offensive. But, at its best, it’s another incisive satire on American culture.
During the first Gulf war in 1989, 13-year-old Jasira (played by Summer Bishil, 19 at the time of filming) is sent by her divorced American mother (Maria Bello) to live with her dad after some inappropriate sexual contact with mom’s live-in boyfriend.
The father, Rifat (Peter Macdissi), a hyper-patriotic Lebanese who works as an aerospace engineer, is sometimes stern to the point of verbal abuse. But he also frequently leaves Bishil alone in his cul-de-sac home while he’s off partying with his American girlfriend.
During one of these absences, Jasira has sex – statutory rape – with Mr. Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart), an Army reservist neighbor whose son Jasira has been baby-sitting despite a string of racial epithets from the child.
With the first American invasion of Iraq playing out on TV in the background, Jasira is also taken advantage of by Thomas (Eugene Jones), an African-American classmate who offers to help trim her pubic hair.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Alicia Erian, “Towelhead” is often extremely explicit in its depiction of female sexuality, including frequent glimpses of menstrual blood.
Ball pushes all sorts of buttons with this low-budget movie, which takes place almost entirely in bland suburban homes. Among the other neighbors is a newlywed (Toni Collette) who makes an ineffectual attempt to protect Jasira.
Bishil makes an impressive debut as the lead character, who ultimately triumphs over all sorts of adversities. Macdissi is quite funny as the father, particularly in a sequence in which Mom arrives for a Christmas visit.
“Towelhead” is definitely not for all tastes, but it shows a bravery that’s increasingly rare in American movies.
TOWELHEAD
Not for the squeamish.
Running time: 116 minutes. Rated R (statutory rape, sexuality, profanity). At the Lincoln Square and the Angelika.