Think you'd wanna be twelve again? Twelve makes you think again.
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05/20/06
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12 and Holding (2006)
74
%
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:56
Rotten:20
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: This shocking pre-teen drama manages, through realistic performances and a sense of empathy, to avoid exploitation and instead deliver something honest and haunting.
Theatrical Release:May 19, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Director Michael Cuesta follows up his debut film L.I.E. with another harrowing coming-of-age tale in TWELVE AND HOLDING. Cuesta casts young Conor Donovan as his lead, with the impressive actor... [More]
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Reviews for 12 and Holding
Follows the youngsters over the course of a tumultuous year, during which time Cuesta and screenwriter Anthony Cipriano succeed in making the audience care desperately whether they're okay and whether the adults in their lives do the right thing.
06/08/06
A few good laughs and superb acting keep the film bearable, even intriguing in places, but these are not fun stories being told.
05/26/06
On by a thread might be the rest of the title. You feel for the characters even when you just want to scream and ground them.
05/21/06
With his modestly impressive young actors and moody lens, Cuesta finds the normal in the extreme.
10/25/06
encapsulates everything one could hope for from a sophomore effort
05/18/06
The young actors are strong enough to triumph over the weaknesses of the script.
06/15/06
The stories coexist without intersecting, and the film would benefit from a stronger narrative spine, but bringing together three such gifted young actors in a single film is a minor miracle.
06/15/06
The kids are very effective. Some laughs seem right, others catch in your throat. There is honest feeling, not sneering.
07/07/06
...generally succeeds in spite of its various deficiencies.
07/16/07
The movie sometimes grows precarious from the weight of too many crises and hairpin turns from comedy to drama. But both script and direction are ultimately up to the task, trumping occasional improbability with sharp observation.
10/06/05
Top Critic[An] intelligent and edgy story that allows believable characters and their interpersonal dynamics to come alive as sinister undercurrents ripple below.
03/01/07
Further solidifies Michael Cuesta's talents for telling realistic stories about adolescence.
05/18/06
Directors like Todd Solondz and Larry Clark are fond of tormenting and exploiting their young characters, but Cuesta seems to sympathize with his.
06/06/06
The kids are terrific
05/19/06
One of the most exceptional, down to Earth portrayals of childhood and adolescence in the face of tragedy I've ever seen...
09/19/07
The director has elicited excellent performances from his trio of young performers, who deliver unfailingly realistic portrayals even while their characters often defy credibility.
05/20/06
Odd and dreamlike in the way a child's perception of the world might be, it's hardly realistic in the literal sense but remarkably real from the emotional perspective.
05/31/06
A mesmerizing film about grief and some kids struggling to define themselves during adolescence.
03/30/06
12 and Holding is a deft reminder of that fleeting time between childhood and puberty when everything still seems possible, even if getting there may seem virtually impossible. It's a special film to watch, whatever your age.
05/19/06
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