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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
With 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.
Buchbinder displays an original filmic eye, but mostly Whole New Thing is a few drafts short of an emotionally fulfillilng feature.
This wry, tender 2005 Canadian comedy puts a fresh spin on the theme of adolescent sexual awakening.
Buchbinder's direction creates a tremendous sense of location and adolescent awkwardness that blossoms beautifully during the picture.
The characters are all original and memorable.
But 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.
The dialogue has a sour, sitcom ring that grows tiresome and irritating before the second reel.
a small-scale film with big emotional payoffs.
A lot of great ideas and flashes of enjoyable quirk wrapped in sad pennywhistles and typically mopey Canadian-movie pacing.
A gentle, perceptive Canadian film.
[The film] shows respect for open communications and differing life styles and lets the audience in on diverse feelings and ways of acting them out.
These knots are all tied by the end, but not memorably so.
Top CriticThe movie is both amusing and disturbing as it explores Emerson's lurching efforts to bond with his teacher.
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.
Top Critic... promises slightly more than it delivers but still comes together nicely.
The 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.
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.
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.
Top CriticEvinces an Ed Zwickian dramatic tenor that would probably scan better on ABC.
... well-intentioned but underwhelming ...
April 05, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Grindhouse" Is Gory Glory; "Done" Needs Fixing; "Firehouse" Is Mangy; "Reaping" Is Plagued
This week at the movies, we've got sleaze (Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' "Grindhouse," starring Kurt Russell and Rose McGowan), fixer-uppers ("Are We... More...
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
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Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
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