Pathetic Screenplay...

This film is aimed directly at the American Beauty crowd... but it fails to connect nearly as well as that 1999 classic. What AB did so effortlessly and supremely well, this film tries to force upon us with sentimental and manipulative scenes. Being profound is a great deal easier once you stop trying to be profound.

Hayden Christensen is embarrassingly bad in his role as an extremely unlikable punk-ass, gay teenager who hates his family and hates his life and performs homosexual acts for drugs and money. It is impossible to feel the sympathy, that this screenplay asks of us, for his character. He even steals his father's cancer medicine and we are supposed to root for him to right his ship. The kid should be locked up and given a daily beating by a drill sergeant... not treated like a lost puppy by his hapless parents. A semi-decent actor may have been able to craft something worthwhile out of the part, but Christensen is as wooden and laughable as any teen actor in recent years. This was the worst performance of the year!

Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas & Jena Malone all do relatively good jobs considering the weak material they had to work with. This film was potentially deep and powerful, and it is a shame to see it dumbed-down with such a simplistic script.

This is more like an after school special TV movie. There is nothing here other than cheap sentimentality, thin unsympathetic characters and cheesy dialogue.

© Written by TC Candler

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - D Richard Propes - B- Jacob Hall -

Richard Propes' Comment

Cheap sentimentality? Thin, unsympathetic characters? Cheesy dialogue? Are you describing "Titanic" or "Life as a House?" I'm confused. :) Of course, your sentiments could explain perfectly why I rated them both a B-, because that sums up my feelings about "Titanic." Seriously, though, I do agree that this film is a massively missed opportunity and a tremendous disappointment. I love Kevin Kline, and I keep waiting for him to choose a decent script. It's still not happening.

Jacob Hall's Comment

n/a