Greetings again from the darkness. Mixing the topic of death and adolescents is always difficult to do in a manner that avoids melodrama and in a manner that truly explores raw emotion among the kids and adults. For the most part, director Michael Cuesta does succeed in crafting a well-made, believable study of "what happens next".
The challenge he is faced with is actually going a bit too far sometimes with violence, guns, sex and independence. The points are made, but the story lines are just a tad extreme. The film deals with twin brothers - one a born leader, the other a social recluse with a facial birthmark - who are friends with Malee (the daughter of a single psychiatrist mom and Leonard, a quiet obese boy from a family full of champion overeater. Real life begins for all involved when the "popular" brother is accidentally killed. Watching the transformation of the other brother to a strong-willed, slightly angry bull is frightening. However, it is not as frightening as the paths of Malee and Leonard.
Malee's storyline involves her crush on a MUCH older construction worker played by Jeremy Renner (the bad guy in North Country and Dahmer). Trust me when I tell you that this plot twist will leave you feeling very uncomfortable, but it does ends well. Leonard's line creates the most humor, but it also serves as a sad commentary on the role families play in childhood obesity. Watching Leonard slowly transform himself and family is again a little over the top.
Some familiar faces adorn the cast including Annabella Sciorra as Malee's mom, who is miscast as a psychiatrist, but she does handle the final scenes very well. Linus Roche (Thomas Wayne from Batman Begins) plays the grief stricken dad of the twins, and in a real surprise, Tony Roberts plays a doctor. Yes, the Tony Roberts from all of the Woody Allen movies in the 70's. The kids are played well by Conor Donovan (twins), Jessie Camacho (Leonard, who looks like a young Paul Sorvino) and Zoe Weizenbaum (Malee).
Overall a pretty well constructed film, but would have liked to see a few script changes to prevent a few of the over-the-top moments.
The challenge he is faced with is actually going a bit too far sometimes with violence, guns, sex and independence. The points are made, but the story lines are just a tad extreme. The film deals with twin brothers - one a born leader, the other a social recluse with a facial birthmark - who are friends with Malee (the daughter of a single psychiatrist mom and Leonard, a quiet obese boy from a family full of champion overeater. Real life begins for all involved when the "popular" brother is accidentally killed. Watching the transformation of the other brother to a strong-willed, slightly angry bull is frightening. However, it is not as frightening as the paths of Malee and Leonard.
Malee's storyline involves her crush on a MUCH older construction worker played by Jeremy Renner (the bad guy in North Country and Dahmer). Trust me when I tell you that this plot twist will leave you feeling very uncomfortable, but it does ends well. Leonard's line creates the most humor, but it also serves as a sad commentary on the role families play in childhood obesity. Watching Leonard slowly transform himself and family is again a little over the top.
Some familiar faces adorn the cast including Annabella Sciorra as Malee's mom, who is miscast as a psychiatrist, but she does handle the final scenes very well. Linus Roche (Thomas Wayne from Batman Begins) plays the grief stricken dad of the twins, and in a real surprise, Tony Roberts plays a doctor. Yes, the Tony Roberts from all of the Woody Allen movies in the 70's. The kids are played well by Conor Donovan (twins), Jessie Camacho (Leonard, who looks like a young Paul Sorvino) and Zoe Weizenbaum (Malee).
Overall a pretty well constructed film, but would have liked to see a few script changes to prevent a few of the over-the-top moments.