The main character was insufferable, and her actions were painful to watch. There were many times I thought I would stop watching, but I forced myself to sit through it, and I'm glad I did.

After Greta's botched suicide-attempt the movie gets better by a mile. She begins to see how her actions hurt the people around her, and some sense is put into her head.

Towards the end I feel like the movie becomes the suicide prevention film that it's seemingly made out to be. Nevertheless that doesn't condone the first hour of the movie.

Seriously. You have to roll a good distance into the film to discover exactly what has caused Greta to become a terror, but eventually it unfolds, raising all sorts of questions: is her suicidal tendency for real? Has she inherited her father's mental illness? That fear alone is enough to make a frightened teen lash out -- especially as her mother, her only anchor/support, shows a surprising lack of empathy (she sends Greta away to "save her marriage"). An ego-crushing blow, to be abandoned by one's sole surviving parent.

There are, of course, inevitably stock characters to flesh things out, and it's impossible not to recognize them very quickly: the sensitive and caring guy of a similar age--the *only* teen we see outside the dangerous Asbury Park slums Greta sneaks away to explore. And with his sweet, soft voice, gentle face and intent gaze, we recognize immediately that Julie (Evan Ross) is the romantic interest--whatever Greta's initial intent might be (shock the grandparents? Check!). Just as we recognize that Greta's grandmother (Ellyn Burstyn) will provide the friction, and her grandfather (Michael Murphy) will serve as a caring mediator, managing things with a patient humor.

That being said, Hillary Duff's performance is at its best when she is the brash, rude and rebellious Greta, and later when her armor starts to chip and she shows the pain underneath that callous exterior. Once Greta becomes more happy with life, Duff falls back on her Disney acting chops (yawn). Although the supporting characters are stock, they don't descend into boring because the parts are so well acted. It would have been better to see more of Greta's mom (Melissa Leo) on screen, to understand what makes her so seriously prickly and incapable of parenting her daughter. At 88 minutes, and layered with so many of the animated journal scenes, the film could have spared the time to pull this off.

Is this film like "Juno"? Essentially no. I found the character of Juno to be kind of precious, and artificial, and the film's conclusion saccharine. "According to Greta" deals with a teen-aged girl overwhelmed by the psychological scars (from dad, on several levels) and open wounds (from mom) of serious emotional trauma. And I was glad to see that she was such an intelligent and rebellious fighter--if she stopped fighting, she may have followed through with her suicide plot, far away from anyone who could save her. The conclusion was also well-done precisely because it was so open-ended. Will Greta and Julie live happily ever after? Probably not (how many of us are with our first teen sweethearts?) Will all be well between Greta, her mom, and her stepfather? Probably not. But that's life, and it remains a work in progress.

First, this film is not for very young children. Hilary Duff does both producing and starring in this dark comedy about a 17 year old teenager, Greta, from New York City whose sent to exile for the summer with her grandparents played by Ellen Burstyn and Michael Murphy who are divine in their roles. Melissa Leo plays Greta's mother but she's not on long enough and it's a shame because Duff, Leo, and Burstyn have some of their finest scenes together. Anyway, Greta is sent to live in Ocean Grove, New Jersey which is a seaside community and not far from the infamous Asbury Park which was crime ridden and left in ashes. Anyway, Greta gets a job at a restaurant. She is determined to end her life by 18 but things might change her point of view and it might be the best summer she ever had.