The Shoplifting Pact

source: Stealing in Suburbia

I like Alicia Leigh Willis so naturally I had to watch this movie. The story-line a bit unrealistic in that the way the shoplifitng gang are so skillfully coordinated with each other in stealing clothes and going totally unnoticed - especially when all the boutiques that they target seem to be very tiny - and also there are no security cameras and monitors behind the counters. And with the exception of one incident where a loose security tag is discovered by Marnie in one of the bags, we never actually see the gang rip the tags off the clothes or where they get rid of them either? Only in the final shoplifting we finally see a security guard who discovering what they have done chases after them and conveniently there are two cops just outside the shop drinking coffee, thus the girls get caught. Skylar's acting was a bit weird to say the least. Her face remained blank throughout the movie. One could not tell where she was happy, sad, scared or anything. She reminded me of the child version of Michael Myers in the original Halloween, the expression on his face towards the end of the movie. Also the fight scene with Skylar, Marnie and. Trey was comical, and also the one with Houstn Rhines and Trey. And when Alicia says I'm going to find our daughter or something in those lines, as a last thought Houston says, I'll drive and she says thanks, sort of suggesting that he's doing a favour and she's appreciative. That did not look like a concerned father and mother coordination at all. Finally the scene in the car where Alicia says go faster and Houston just looks at her and nods and then puts his foot down. That was stupid too. The only good acting in the whole of the movie came from Brooke Maroon who played Heather. She played her part perfectly. The school bully shoplifting gang leader who at the same time was concerned about the horny coach who had got herself into trouble in the first place and they were doing it to raise money for her blackmail, or so they thought. And finally after Sky is rescued by her parents and her dad comes back to them after talking to the police explaining coach Sandy ad Heather confessed to everything at it was all over, Sky never thanks for the rescue or not even once does she say sorry. That was stupid on the writer's part I think. Anyway this is another movie that won't get any stars from me.

This wasn't very realistic. Many of the characters are wooden and some of the scenes are silly. I wonder why they pick actors who look so old to play the children. As an asthmatic, I found Skyla's wheezing and sudden puff of the inhaler to be the wrong way to do it. Also the manner that the group of girls were shoplifting clothes in a store very open. Didn't any of these stores have cameras? It showed on of the stolen clothes with the shop's security tag, when Skylar found out that her friends were stealing clothes, but that should've triggered off an alarm in the shop, yet it didn't. Later the girls ripped off one of these alarm tags and threw it away before leaving another shop. It's shocking that the film forgot about the missing girl and her mother from the earlier plot. I also wonder how Skyla was kidnapped by another girl in a busy street, then whisked off to a remote cabin and no one ever noticed. Did they teleport?

As a mother, Nicole Phillips feels that her daughter Skylar (Sky) was a miracle baby. After a rough experience with asthma in which Sky had to drop out of school, she is now returning to formal education after years of home schooling. While "The Shoplifting Pact" (aka, "Stealing in Suburbia") includes a convoluted scheme of young shoplifters, a tawdry love affair, and blackmail, the heart of the film is really the mother-daughter relationship of Nicole and Sky. Is Nicole the quintessential helicopter mom? Or, is she relying on a sense of mother's intuition that leads her to recognize how deeply enmeshed her daughter is in a dysfunctional school environment? The shoplifting scenes involving the tag team of Heather, Marnie, Tabitha, and Vera were not very credible. Also, the numerous scenes of the girls' basketball practices suggested that the Pioneers would not be winning many games. But the relationship of Nicole and Sky was moving and heartfelt. Audiences may be conflicted about the character of Coach Sandy. How culpable was she in drawing the unsuspecting Sky into a net of deceit and subterfuge? The screenplay included a clever connection between Sandy and Nicole, who was on the receiving end of bullying in high school by young Sandy. That detail helps to explain Nicole's concern about her daughter's well-being in the asphalt jungle of high school. In the film's denouement, there was a deft touch on the part of the screenwriters to reveal Sky's interest in participating in the FBI's Youth Leadership Program. Her exposure to the shoplifters and blackmailers has thoroughly prepared her for this program!

Trailer—Stealing in Suburbia

source: Stealing in Suburbia

I like Alicia Leigh Willis so naturally I had to watch this movie. The story-line a bit unrealistic in that the way the shoplifitng gang are so skillfully coordinated with each other in stealing clothes and going totally unnoticed - especially when all the boutiques that they target seem to be very tiny - and also there are no security cameras and monitors behind the counters. And with the exception of one incident where a loose security tag is discovered by Marnie in one of the bags, we never actually see the gang rip the tags off the clothes or where they get rid of them either? Only in the final shoplifting we finally see a security guard who discovering what they have done chases after them and conveniently there are two cops just outside the shop drinking coffee, thus the girls get caught. Skylar's acting was a bit weird to say the least. Her face remained blank throughout the movie. One could not tell where she was happy, sad, scared or anything. She reminded me of the child version of Michael Myers in the original Halloween, the expression on his face towards the end of the movie. Also the fight scene with Skylar, Marnie and. Trey was comical, and also the one with Houstn Rhines and Trey. And when Alicia says I'm going to find our daughter or something in those lines, as a last thought Houston says, I'll drive and she says thanks, sort of suggesting that he's doing a favour and she's appreciative. That did not look like a concerned father and mother coordination at all. Finally the scene in the car where Alicia says go faster and Houston just looks at her and nods and then puts his foot down. That was stupid too. The only good acting in the whole of the movie came from Brooke Maroon who played Heather. She played her part perfectly. The school bully shoplifting gang leader who at the same time was concerned about the horny coach who had got herself into trouble in the first place and they were doing it to raise money for her blackmail, or so they thought. And finally after Sky is rescued by her parents and her dad comes back to them after talking to the police explaining coach Sandy ad Heather confessed to everything at it was all over, Sky never thanks for the rescue or not even once does she say sorry. That was stupid on the writer's part I think. Anyway this is another movie that won't get any stars from me.

This wasn't very realistic. Many of the characters are wooden and some of the scenes are silly. I wonder why they pick actors who look so old to play the children. As an asthmatic, I found Skyla's wheezing and sudden puff of the inhaler to be the wrong way to do it. Also the manner that the group of girls were shoplifting clothes in a store very open. Didn't any of these stores have cameras? It showed on of the stolen clothes with the shop's security tag, when Skylar found out that her friends were stealing clothes, but that should've triggered off an alarm in the shop, yet it didn't. Later the girls ripped off one of these alarm tags and threw it away before leaving another shop. It's shocking that the film forgot about the missing girl and her mother from the earlier plot. I also wonder how Skyla was kidnapped by another girl in a busy street, then whisked off to a remote cabin and no one ever noticed. Did they teleport?

As a mother, Nicole Phillips feels that her daughter Skylar (Sky) was a miracle baby. After a rough experience with asthma in which Sky had to drop out of school, she is now returning to formal education after years of home schooling. While "The Shoplifting Pact" (aka, "Stealing in Suburbia") includes a convoluted scheme of young shoplifters, a tawdry love affair, and blackmail, the heart of the film is really the mother-daughter relationship of Nicole and Sky. Is Nicole the quintessential helicopter mom? Or, is she relying on a sense of mother's intuition that leads her to recognize how deeply enmeshed her daughter is in a dysfunctional school environment? The shoplifting scenes involving the tag team of Heather, Marnie, Tabitha, and Vera were not very credible. Also, the numerous scenes of the girls' basketball practices suggested that the Pioneers would not be winning many games. But the relationship of Nicole and Sky was moving and heartfelt. Audiences may be conflicted about the character of Coach Sandy. How culpable was she in drawing the unsuspecting Sky into a net of deceit and subterfuge? The screenplay included a clever connection between Sandy and Nicole, who was on the receiving end of bullying in high school by young Sandy. That detail helps to explain Nicole's concern about her daughter's well-being in the asphalt jungle of high school. In the film's denouement, there was a deft touch on the part of the screenwriters to reveal Sky's interest in participating in the FBI's Youth Leadership Program. Her exposure to the shoplifters and blackmailers has thoroughly prepared her for this program!

Stealing in Suburbia