'Towelhead'

Newsday (MCT) - When it comes to the sexual development of a 13-year-old girl, it's tough to say what's normal and what's not. Wearing skimpy clothes? Peeking at nudie magazines? Quietly masturbating during class? Getting involved with an older married man?

Well, we can all agree on that last one. But for young Jasira (newcomer Summer Bishil), the heroine of " Towelhead," normalcy comes filtered through several layers of strangeness: Her Lebanese-American ethnicity, two whacked-out parents and, last but not least, a body that's developing faster than her judgment.

Jasira's story is essentially a series of sexual humiliations, and worse: After attracting male attention away from her needy mother (Maria Bello), Jasira is sent to live in Houston with her racist, overbearing father (Peter Macdissi, menacing and funny) and quickly develops a crush on the family man next door (Aaron Eckhart). Her only safe haven is the home of Melina (Toni Collette), a friendly earth mother who sneaks Jasira a copy of "Changing Bodies, Changing Lives."

Alan Ball, who wrote "American Beauty" and created the cable shows "Six Feet Under" and "True Blood," makes his feature directing debut (his screenplay is based on Alicia Erian's novel), and the movie satisfies his ongoing thesis that within every placid American home lies total bizarritude, much of it grimly funny. After all the sexual abuse and emotional cruelty, the film comes to a head at the most banal place imaginable: the family dinner table.

An Islamic advocacy group has objected to the film's title, a racist slur that does seem a little needless; Ball is clearly more interested in sexuality than race. "Towelhead" spreads itself thin trying to tackle too many issues, but the nuanced characters, and an absolutely stellar cast, make this an uncommonly complex and compelling drama.

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TOWELHEAD

3 stars

Cast: Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi, Toni Collette

Directed by: Alan Ball

Length: 1:56

Rated: R

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