Twelve and Holding

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Laurie S @Karlwinters 11/07/2023 Hold on. Two little psychopaths chucked petrol bombs into a tree house killing a kid who burned to death and the police didn't get involved! You've got to be kidding me. The evidence was all there. Sorry, but I loathe films that aren't realistic. See more 03/21/2016 What an odd movie. While I've long maintained the unpopular opinion that the first episode of Dexter is the only good one, and mostly for Cuesta's beautifully weird direction, his style is still a little too rooted in the TeeVee aesthetic to be truly great. But there is a weird, beguiling rhythm to this movie that had me pretty firmly in its grip, up until some silly third-act plot turns that turned the story from a down-to-earth character study to more of a grand tragedy, which just didn't work for me. But it's still pretty good. See more 04/19/2015 Hardly a top tier entry in the "fucked up coming of age" genre, but an entry all the same, and that's not nothing. The stories start off entwined, but gradually have less and less to do with each other as the film progresses, and one of these three stories, about a boy who eats salad now, feels completely at odds with the rest of the movie. That said, Jeremy Renner does a fantastic job in supporting role, and ups and downs of the tale overall are intriguing enough to merit a recommendation. See more 07/08/2014 Well-done dramedy with excellent performances from the young cast. See more 04/16/2014 This movie was spectacular yet very haunting. It's crazy to think that one event can cause people to grow up so quickly. After a group of young teens witness a friend of theirs being burned to death in a treehouse fire by the local bullies, it changes something in each of them. Unlike most movies made today, this one felt so realistic. I could literally see people acting like they did after the fire. It was kinda unsettling at times. I don't want to go into big details about the movie because I'd hate to spoil anything, but this is one movie surely not to be missed!!! *I love these indie type films. It allows directors to go in any direction they choose, however they are not for everyone and I can understand that. See more 01/27/2014 The young actors turn in very convincing performances, but the weird thing for me was the tonal inconsistency. Often it felt like a happy bright 90s disney movie mixed with heavy adult themes of American Beauty or something like that. The story regarding the young girl's sexual awareness and how she went about her "love" crush on Jeremy Renner was just really weird and felt so out of place with the rest of the movie-it was like watching three separate movies at times even. The young fat kid's dynamic with the family was at times funny even if it was dark, but what he decides to do to his mother in the finale of his story is just so juvenile and truly evil that there's no justification for his actions. It just seemed like an exercise for the writer to design a nightmare scenario for the parents with a completely unjustified and idiotic child. And then the twin's story seemed completely unbelievable- becoming "friends" with his bully that caused his twin brother's death was at first, endearing and I thought it was gonna lead to a nice friendship-but his evil underlying scheme that leads to a murder at the end felt so left field for me. How this bully thought this kid was really going to hitch a ride to his father's state and live with him, ha! Once again, the writers are having a field day for ridiculous adult scenarios involving children. It was engrossing, sure and I like these character studies about family dynamics, relationships and mental issues but this one didn't quite mesh for me. And the ending was intentionally left open ended so as for us to fill in the blanks, but I didn't really feel like we had enough information to do so. See more Read all reviews

Twelve and Holding

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