There are interesting elements in this story that would have given the final script more originality, such as the search of the fifteen-year-old Nick, the "pretty boy" of the title, for an affective anchor, or his initial denial of prostitution and criminal activity on the streets of Copenhagen.
These elements just needed greater dimension and space. It was not necessary to explain the reasons for his gerontophilia, his mother's promiscuity or the girl Renee's decision to dress as a man, but it would not have been superfluous a little more information either. It would have been enough with a better distribution of thematic contents in the script, instead of giving sudden turns of options and affections towards the end.
As it is, it results in a routine and unconvincing melodrama with solutions taken from the sleeve (like the ending) and bad performances, especially when the central romance "emerges", in which there is zero chemistry between Nick and Renee, played by two actors who did not even try to convince themselves.
These elements just needed greater dimension and space. It was not necessary to explain the reasons for his gerontophilia, his mother's promiscuity or the girl Renee's decision to dress as a man, but it would not have been superfluous a little more information either. It would have been enough with a better distribution of thematic contents in the script, instead of giving sudden turns of options and affections towards the end.
As it is, it results in a routine and unconvincing melodrama with solutions taken from the sleeve (like the ending) and bad performances, especially when the central romance "emerges", in which there is zero chemistry between Nick and Renee, played by two actors who did not even try to convince themselves.