... well-intentioned but underwhelming ...
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04/07/07
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Whole New Thing (2007)
67
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:16
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: The tender little moments of adolescence are beautifully captured in this warm and modest coming-of-age drama.
Theatrical Release:Apr 6, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Aaron Webber makes an outstanding feature-film debut in WHOLE NEW THING as 13-year-old Emerson, a precocious homeschooled boy who spends most of his time, when not alone in his room, with his very... [More]
Starring: Aaron Webber, Daniel Maclvor, Robert Joy, Callum Keith Rennie
Director: Amnon Buchbinder
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Reviews for Whole New Thing
Toronto-based filmmaker Amnon Buchbinder tackles the sensitive subject of adolescent sexuality in this winning coming-of-age character study set in a wintry small town in Nova Scotia.
05/04/07
Evinces an Ed Zwickian dramatic tenor that would probably scan better on ABC.
03/25/07
The cast is uniformly excellent, but Webber in his first feature role is a stand out, delivering a subtle performance that offers a fully realized portrayal of a smart, sensitive, confused, and sometimes bratty and obnoxious youth.
04/06/07
... promises slightly more than it delivers but still comes together nicely.
04/09/07
Top CriticThe dialogue has a sour, sitcom ring that grows tiresome and irritating before the second reel.
04/07/07
Thing suffers the familiar curse of Canadian seriocomedy -- just nice enough in content and stylistically like a telepic.
04/02/07
Top CriticIf its portrait of hippie parents raising a misfit child has much in common with Rebecca Miller's Ballad of Jack and Rose, Whole New Thing refrains from going to the same extremes.
04/06/07
Top CriticThe story could easily be one of the older generation abusing an innocent, but this is not a hackneyed plot. The film is a modest production, but has a fair impact.
12/06/06
The characters are all original and memorable.
09/24/05
These knots are all tied by the end, but not memorably so.
05/04/07
Top CriticWith its narcissistic, not-as- sharp-as- he-thinks- he-is juvenile hero and weird approach to bridging the generation gap, Whole New Thing plays a lot like Wes Anderson's Rushmore, only sober instead of whimsical.
04/07/07
Neither is it funny -- or poignant or insightful or remotely worth one's time except as a reminder that Canadian indies can be every bit as feeble as American ones.
04/03/07
Top CriticBut what's salutary about this effort is the canny intelligence and emotional understanding director Amnon Buchbinder has brought to the mostly well-wrought screenplay he wrote with MacIvor.
04/09/07
After a precisely crafted first hour with nary a detail out of place, Whole New Thing comes unglued toward the end, spiraling into melodrama without ever escaping its whiny, indie-rock soundtrack.
04/04/07
Top CriticBuchbinder's direction creates a tremendous sense of location and adolescent awkwardness that blossoms beautifully during the picture.
04/05/07
There's a trick to making us care about people who so consistently do the wrong thing, and it involves asking a certain amount of forgiveness: of the characters and of ourselves.
04/14/06
Top CriticBuchbinder displays an original filmic eye, but mostly Whole New Thing is a few drafts short of an emotionally fulfillilng feature.
04/14/07
A lot of great ideas and flashes of enjoyable quirk wrapped in sad pennywhistles and typically mopey Canadian-movie pacing.
04/14/06
The movie is both amusing and disturbing as it explores Emerson's lurching efforts to bond with his teacher.
05/04/07
Top CriticLatest News for Whole New Thing
April 05, 2007:
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