“12 and holding” is another great movie directed by Michael Cuesta, who recently became my favourite movie director. If you are looking for a fine Coming out of Age story – the chances are that you will find it all in “12 and holding”. It is a simple story – without any special effects or famous actors playing – but the way the story is shown will make you remember what you’ve seen. One could say that the movie was disturbing – as it showed things most people would never want to happen to them or their kids – at the same time, everything seems too real. One couldn’t miss the exceptional performance of the young Conor Donovan who plays two roles – and does it so well that I have to admit that I haven’t noticed that the same actor plays both boys.
The soundtrack is compelling – especially the melancholic music in some scenes. The theme song from it is called “Reckless burning,” and Jesse Sykes performs it – most of the other songs from the soundtrack are performed by Elysian Fields. I did not notice any flaws and felt quite related to the actors. I think that all viewers would sense something similar to what they felt when they were growing up – that sense of anger, desire for revenge …or the will to protect your relatives and friends.
Despite what some other reviewers wrote – I did not find the movie tough to watch – yes, it deals with violence, even death, but it does it in quite a unique way—12 and holding an independent movie that conveys powerful messages.
There is a lot of poetry in this movie – it seems that I am getting hocked to poetry- again! A few years ago, a girl was sending me sonnets of Shakespeare. I even tried to write some poems myself.
characters in person. The young actors were compelling, and I felt Patrick Delaney (played by Chris Newman) and Liam Mercier (John Travers) were almost like my friends.
The movie did not impress me with its story. The nature scenes and the actions of the young Jeremy Cooper were what did impress me. Actually, from what I saw, I was almost convinced that all characters in the movie except the three boys the movie starts with are crazy or something. As one other reviewer wrote, “In The Reflecting Skin, nobody behaves as a normal person would, and the viewer is left as a patron at a freak show.”
Not an easy film to watch – “Lessons at the end of the spring” tells the story of a boy who is arrested by mistake and is locked in prison. Everything is happening in Russia – but you know every day, people who are empowered do that to innocent victims from many other countries – my own is not an exception.
I did not quite get Barnens O – it is one of the weirdest ones I have watched. The soundtrack was quite unusual as well – written and performed by Jean Michel Jarre – it makes the movie weirder than it was.
My guess is that this movie is going to evoke different feelings in different people. I felt disappointed- not of the movie – I like it a lot, but of the way the leading character (a first year teachers) choose to follow – I almost screamed “ how dare you “ – even trough I know that some people would say that he did the right thing.