Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -3

A sassy Afro-American teenager in Brooklyn, Chantel (Ariyan Johnson), has to learn some basic facts of life the hard way. In high school, she is the brightest student in the school and hopes to go to medical school. In spite of her parents' efforts to control her, Chantel does what she pleases. When she goes to a dance with her boyfriend, she meets a new guy Tyrone (Kevin Thigpen), and decides to leave with him. This new romance with middle-class Ty leads to deep involvement, and ultimately, her pregnancy. She never tells her parents or friends about the pregnancy. Ty gives her money for an abortion, but instead she and a girl friend spend it all on a shopping spree. An angry Ty walks out on her. When she is eight-months' pregnant, Ty again agrees to talk with her about the situation. Their talk leads to sex, and she goes into premature labor. Now they face the difficult decision about what to do with a newborn baby. JUST ANOTHER GIRL ON THE I.R.T. is a good first-time effort by producer/director Leslie Harris. It's an older teenager's and young adult's movie, with many issues they can relate to.

Some of these issues are casual sex, teenage pregnancy and disrespect for authority. Chantel is determined to do as she pleases. Her principal tells Chantel her insolence could prevent acceptance into medical school. Although Chantel refuses to have an abortion, it is not for moral reasons, but because she just can't cope. The ensuing labor and delivery scene in her boyfriend's apartment is extremely graphic. Three times sex is implied - once under bedcovers, once when Chantel is shown in bed in her underwear, and another time the camera pans away. Suggestive dance moves, a scene of Chantel and her old boyfriend rolling around on the floor in a laundromat, and discussions about intercourse with her girlfriends are included. When Chantel's father slaps her, it is treated as a usual occurrence. Thankfully, her heartless attitude toward the baby finally softens. Offensive language includes over 100 obscenities and crudities and some profanity. Rap music filled with obscenities and sexually suggestive language plays throughout. A bright, ambitious young girl dashes her dreams of a promising future with arrogance, promiscuity and crudity.

Preview Reviewer: Alice Anderson
Distributor: Miramax Films, 18 E. 48th St., Ste. 1601, NY, NY 10017