Tough and troubling drama.
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06/02/06
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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
Illuminating and unsettling.
06/02/06
That a film about kids dares to be so without being exploitive or easy is both astonishing and admirable, if also shockingly harsh at times.
06/02/06
The film is as oblivious as the adults.
06/02/06
Top CriticTwelve 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 CriticCuesta 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 CriticThe 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 CriticCuesta ... has a weak grasp on the behavior of contemporary youth.
06/01/06
The kids deliver uniformly solid, occasionally remarkable performances.
06/01/06
A sensitive and moving account of the wounds inflicted by birth, by parents and by accident, and the mistakes and small victories that help us move on.
06/01/06
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
...makes one want to reevaluate L.I.E. to see whether it was a lousy film hiding behind a great Brian Cox performance because this one plays like a sitcom directed by Larry Clark
05/28/06
Michael Cuesta's film 12 and Holding flashes a laser beam on ... the moment between childhood and adolescence when unguarded emotions and fantasies still rule, but adult experience beckons.
05/27/06
Top CriticCuesta'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
Smart, compassionate filmmaking that captures both the intricacies and the tragedy of contemporary adolescence.
05/26/06
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
Most of the time ... we are watching pathology without benefit of insight.
05/25/06
They are believable 12-year olds: intelligent (but not too intelligent) yet naïve, and trying with mixed success to navigate the path of adolescence.
05/25/06
Top CriticThe young cast is terrific, giving the stories unearned weight.
05/23/06
Top CriticOn 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
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