The children are operating without a safety net or a script typed with kid gloves, and that makes it all the more easy to fear for and sympathize with them, even as the plot takes outlandish twists.
Comment
07/13/06
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12 and Holding (2006)
74
%
Tomatometer
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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
Though occasionally clumsy, it manages to accurately re-create the especial lonely pain of nascent pubescence, the shock of change and the feeling that no one has ever lived through the sort of emotional weather you're required to endure.
08/18/06
The trio of youths at the heart of first-time screenwriter Anthony S. Cipriano's script do shocking, outrageous things, events seemingly arising not so much from genuine character motivations as from desire for the film to shock and be outrageous.
06/02/06
Top CriticThe film careens from crisis to crisis. Yet each time it threatens to spin out of control, [director Michael] Cuesta demonstrates a firm hand that keeps us leaning in with interest.
08/06/06
Top CriticTwelve isn’t always easy to watch. But it feels emotionally authentic -- not exploitive, not farfetchedly quirky.
07/08/06
The surface slickness ultimately makes Twelve And Holding awful.
05/17/06
It doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but [director Michael] Cuesta finds wry humour in tragic situations while at the same time thickening the air with quiet foreboding.
11/14/06
Cuesta prizes curiosity and perception over conflict resolution. He likes the way kids take their cues from adults and the ways they revolt against them.
06/02/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/23/09
Even if childhood innocence seems to be going the way of the hula hoop, Cuesta is far too willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
06/23/06
Cuesta's overkill approach to black comedy, reminiscent of the hyperrealism Gregg Araki uses in Mysterious Skin, allows cheap laughs to subvert understanding and compassion for his troubled tweens.
05/27/06
Twelve and Holding could have been a series of horror stories, but the filmmakers and their gifted young actors somehow negotiate the horrors and generate a deep sympathy.
06/02/06
Top CriticThe kids deliver uniformly solid, occasionally remarkable performances.
06/01/06
Most of the time ... we are watching pathology without benefit of insight.
05/25/06
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
Further solidifies Michael Cuesta's talents for telling realistic stories about adolescence.
05/18/06
A riveting low-budget look at how a group of 12-year-olds react to the accidental killing of one of their friends.
03/23/06
The excellent casting and acting, the strong script and subtle plotting build into a carefully crafted roller coaster ride.
06/16/06
Flawed but compassionate study of kids struggling with grown-up issues without much adult supervison.
06/16/06
Click to read the article
10/18/08
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