As Aileen's lover Selby, a fictionalization of the aforementioned Ty, Christina Ricci was accurately characterized in Theron's Oscar speech as the «unsung hero» of Monster: Though Selby personifies Aileen's salvation, Ricci drops any pretense of precociousness in the early going, a move that would seem as humbling for her as gaining weight was for the slender Theron. (filmfreakcentral.net)
Likewise, Craig Roberts emerges as a young, Bud Cort-esque performer to watch, successfully pulling off precociousness without smarminess. (filmthreat.com)
That lingering air of sixth - form precociousness? (sbnation.com)