Girl, you'll be a woman soon

"Not a girl, not yet a woman." So sang Britney not too long ago in her bubble-gum movie debut, "Crossroads." But now that she's the, ah, toast of Vegas, it looks like it's going to have to fall to other films to explore that same slippery terrain. Among the new DVDs aiming, to varying degrees, to do just that:

"Thirteen" (2003). All the Sundance-fueled buzz about this unflinching look at two girls growing up too fast in LA may have lessened its impact slightly -- by now we're braced for what's coming -- but it still hits hard. The same goes for the knowledge that filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke's story draws on the real-life experiences of its adolescent cowriter and costar, Nikki Reed.

That story centers around gangly Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood, a couple of years removed from the TV drama "Once and Again"), a generally sweet-natured kid desperate to be hipper, despite the funk-infused lifestyle she already leads, thanks to her divorced hairdresser mom (Holly Hunter). As Tracy makes it an ongoing self-assigned project to befriend ultrapopular wild child classmate Evie (Reed), her innocence bolts out the window like a teen sneaking out after curfew. Stealing, getting high, going far too far with guys -- Wood plays it all in a way that certainly feels authentic, with her subsequent screaming matches with Hunter more wrenchingly genuine still. Every once in a while the film throws in a passing reference to, say, the girls being seventh graders, smartly underscoring the outrageousness of Tracy's downward spiral.

Still, never mind those inevitable nature-vs.-nurture debates; Reed's Evie, who slips back and forth between out-of-control and brazenly manipulative, ranks with the best big-movie villains of last year, whether you'd think to categorize her that way or not. The girl isn't just a bad seed, she's diabolical -- a character portrait deftly grounded in that junior high realism of kids being best buds one minute and on the outs the next.

Reed and Wood giggle through much of the commentary with Hardwicke -- which is either slightly annoying or happily reassuring, depending on one's viewpoint. As Hardwicke understates early on, "We thought we might, like, write some sort of a teen comedy or something, but what we ended up with didn't really turn out that funny." (Available Tuesday from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, $27.98; VHS priced for rental)

"Swimming Pool" (2003). Where "Thirteen" rawly exposes its female lead's angsty yearning to cut dangerously loose, French writer-director Francois Ozon plays a vaguely similar theme for intrigue. In a performance just sly enough to avoid caricature, Charlotte Rampling ("The Verdict") stars as Sarah Morton, a hopelessly stuffy British whodunit author who heads to her publisher's vacation home in France to recharge and crank out a new book. She's the sort who impatiently stabs at everything: her laptop keyboard, her cafe food, and even, with her eyes, a reader who recognizes her on the subway. When the publisher's sexpot daughter (Ludivine Sagnier, who played Tinker Bell in the recent live-action version of "Peter Pan") shows up to crash at the house, Sarah is furious -- but also fascinated by the immature young woman's pouty, provocative, monokini-loving ways. Before long, Sarah has scrapped that shopworn mystery plot and is busily typing up her own version of "Thirteen."

The two leads are so interesting to watch, Ozon's leisurely, decidedly European story pacing doesn't register nearly as prominently as it otherwise might. The 59-year-old Rampling, who's enjoyed something of a career resurgence since starring in Ozon's "Under the Sand," is as bold here as at any time since her work in "The Night Porter" back in the '70s. And while other actresses may appear nude at unexpected points in their careers -- Hunter in "Thirteen," for one, not to mention "The Piano" -- Rampling embraces the chance to put herself out there opposite Sagnier.

Unfortunately, some of this is in the service of a fairly ludicrous plot twist in the movie's last act. There's no commentary track (and not much in the way of other extras) to explain Ozon's thinking, but it's hardly enough to drain "Pool" of its strange, sultry appeal. (Newly available from Universal Studios Home Video, $26.98; VHS priced for rental)

"I'll Be There" (2003). Charlotte Church's movie bow is hardly more daring than Britney's -- a bit of a surprise, given that filmmaker and star Craig Ferguson ("The Drew Carey Show") did such pleasantly witty work writing the improbable pot comedy "Saving Grace" a few years back. Here, first-time director Ferguson stars as Paul Kerr, a 40-something faded rock star whose boozy malaise has started to border on suicidal. Enter angelic-voiced regular girl Olivia (Church) and single mom Rebecca (Jemma Redgrave), with the haltingly delivered news that Olivia is Paul's daughter.

Naturally, Olivia busts out into song a couple of times as they sort through their various problems and awkward getting-to-know-you moments. Curiously, though, a bigger musical impression is made by senior Brit character actor Joss Ackland ("Lethal Weapon 2") as Church's granddad, a leather-pants-wearing, street-festival-circuit bluesman. Are the pants funny or just plain disturbing? You make the call.

Ferguson supplies a commentary track; Church, who appears comfortable enough on-screen but doesn't exactly bring passion to her role, lets her acting (and singing) do the talking. (Available Tuesday from Warner Home Video, $26.98; VHS priced for rental).