A film so self-serious that it demands to be remade as a Seth MacFarlane farce, “The Truth About Emanuel” mixes the ludicrous and the pretentious in a story about mommy issues gone wild.
Emanuel (Kaya Scodelario) is a 17-year-old who lost her mom in childbirth and covers her sorrow with brattiness. Lucky for her, the new next-door neighbor, Linda (Jessica Biel), is a handy new maternal figure, and even has a precious infant for Emanuel to baby-sit. When the baby turns out to be a plastic doll, Emanuel plays right along with the diaper changes and pretend feedings.
Never mind that Linda needs someone to call 1-800-LOONIES for her and request an immediate pickup — what teen girl could keep such a juicy secret for more than 10 seconds? Worse than the contrivances, though, are the many pretentious dream sequences of Emanuel swimming deep underwater, hoping to reconnect with her mom, or something. Unlike the title character, though, the script by director Francesca Gregorini sinks to the bottom of the ocean with its cement-like touch.