SPOILERS If you liked 'American Beauty', you'll love this. It's affectionate, philosophical, and real. The characters are portrayed with a fresh virtuosity and the plot flows nicely. My only complaint is it should have been longer.
The film begins with Howie Blitzer, an intellectual 15-year-old who demonstrates an extensive knowledge of the arts (eg, he knows all about Chagall and can recite Whitman from memory), fluency in French, recalcitrance towards his father, and a unique deftness for writing poems. His mother was tragically killed on the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway), an event which has had a huge impact on Howie.
Howie hangs out with what society would label the "wrong people" (one hilarious character has unprotected incestuous sex with his little sister; and as disturbing as this sounds, the movie displays it with such wry humor that you'll find yourself laughing, not vomiting.) But the most intriguing of all of these "wrong people" is Gary, a promiscuous bisexual who steals, cusses, and adorns his body with tattoos and piercings. He invites Howie (who begins to start having homosexual feelings of his own toward Gary) to runaway to California with him. But Gary ends up stealing money from Howie and leaving for California alone.
Howie, repudiated by his best friend and rumored gay lover, becomes ravenous for love. His clandestine hunger attracts a pedophile named Big John, who claims to be a long lost friend of Howie's late mother's. But because no sex takes place between them and because of the ingenious directing job, the prospect that Big John may not be exploiting Howie and may actually love him is almost believable. The directing job is so wonderful that it makes us ignore the fact that Big John says that he "likes girls" and that he has polaroid pictures of all the other young boys he has taken in (one of whom is none other than Gary.)
The film beautifully illustrates the universal truth that the commonality that transcends the demarcations of human diversity is the interior need to be loved. No matter how contemptuous we act towards others, we crave the resplendance of Love. Although I do not approve of pedophilia, rape, incest, or any other sex that does not entail mutual concent and has dire psychological reprecussions, this movie opened my eyes and my heart to feel compassion for those who commit those acts because deep inside, they need love as much as I do.
The film begins with Howie Blitzer, an intellectual 15-year-old who demonstrates an extensive knowledge of the arts (eg, he knows all about Chagall and can recite Whitman from memory), fluency in French, recalcitrance towards his father, and a unique deftness for writing poems. His mother was tragically killed on the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway), an event which has had a huge impact on Howie.
Howie hangs out with what society would label the "wrong people" (one hilarious character has unprotected incestuous sex with his little sister; and as disturbing as this sounds, the movie displays it with such wry humor that you'll find yourself laughing, not vomiting.) But the most intriguing of all of these "wrong people" is Gary, a promiscuous bisexual who steals, cusses, and adorns his body with tattoos and piercings. He invites Howie (who begins to start having homosexual feelings of his own toward Gary) to runaway to California with him. But Gary ends up stealing money from Howie and leaving for California alone.
Howie, repudiated by his best friend and rumored gay lover, becomes ravenous for love. His clandestine hunger attracts a pedophile named Big John, who claims to be a long lost friend of Howie's late mother's. But because no sex takes place between them and because of the ingenious directing job, the prospect that Big John may not be exploiting Howie and may actually love him is almost believable. The directing job is so wonderful that it makes us ignore the fact that Big John says that he "likes girls" and that he has polaroid pictures of all the other young boys he has taken in (one of whom is none other than Gary.)
The film beautifully illustrates the universal truth that the commonality that transcends the demarcations of human diversity is the interior need to be loved. No matter how contemptuous we act towards others, we crave the resplendance of Love. Although I do not approve of pedophilia, rape, incest, or any other sex that does not entail mutual concent and has dire psychological reprecussions, this movie opened my eyes and my heart to feel compassion for those who commit those acts because deep inside, they need love as much as I do.