The official storyline of the film states, "An American heartland story that is very timely and unfortunately very pervasive in our culture." As my title gag points out, it's very pervasive in our pop culture, but is it really a major part of American life? What percentage of children fall into the Sam category? From the storyline statement and the attention this gets in pop culture, you'd think that one in three children are in the wrong bodies.
The movie points out that the child has a terrible to non-existent home life with a junkie ho mama and nothing of a male role model in his life, at least before Palmer. No one has made an effort to give the boy any sort of male orientation except Palmer drinking beer in front of him. Instead of giving in to the every whim of the child-not recommended in good parenting-why not lead him down another option in life? There is absolutely nothing wrong with showing boys how to be boys.
The movie seems to lean towards the boy's orientation as learned behavior. So why can't he unlearn it? The kid is slightly overweight and looks like he'd drop dead if he did a push-up, so why not teach him how to be a strong kid? Cookies? How about a piece of fruit? No wonder he's a little tub of guts. It isn't the kid's fault, it's bad adult guidance. Another learned behavior is smoking. What's the deal with smoking? My lungs hurt just watching everyone huffing away.
I'm not saying you have to go all Sergeant York on the kid, just teach him how to take care of his body. Turn off the TV and go take a run in the park with him. Not all kids need to be sport stars, but physical fitness is within the grasp of everyone.
Why does Palmer have to write the letter to the Princess club? Is the kid illiterate? Write your own letter, kid. And princesses? What about the whole "all men are created equal" thing? As an American, the idea of royalty should sicken you. We fought a war of independence partly against the concept of monarchy.
And does that church really need his grandmother's house more than he does? What vultures!
Once again, the film was too long by at least twenty minutes, which is a lot. Other than the bloated run-time, the film was very well produced from top to bottom: good music, a very realistic atmosphere or the rural South, and good acting form everyone involved. The script? Eh. A bit too trite, too facile, too after-school specially, but once you go into a crusading project like this, there isn't any other place to go, I would imagine.
The problem is, there are way too many people having children who shouldn't. You may argue with other things I've put in this review, but few people could argue with this.
The movie points out that the child has a terrible to non-existent home life with a junkie ho mama and nothing of a male role model in his life, at least before Palmer. No one has made an effort to give the boy any sort of male orientation except Palmer drinking beer in front of him. Instead of giving in to the every whim of the child-not recommended in good parenting-why not lead him down another option in life? There is absolutely nothing wrong with showing boys how to be boys.
The movie seems to lean towards the boy's orientation as learned behavior. So why can't he unlearn it? The kid is slightly overweight and looks like he'd drop dead if he did a push-up, so why not teach him how to be a strong kid? Cookies? How about a piece of fruit? No wonder he's a little tub of guts. It isn't the kid's fault, it's bad adult guidance. Another learned behavior is smoking. What's the deal with smoking? My lungs hurt just watching everyone huffing away.
I'm not saying you have to go all Sergeant York on the kid, just teach him how to take care of his body. Turn off the TV and go take a run in the park with him. Not all kids need to be sport stars, but physical fitness is within the grasp of everyone.
Why does Palmer have to write the letter to the Princess club? Is the kid illiterate? Write your own letter, kid. And princesses? What about the whole "all men are created equal" thing? As an American, the idea of royalty should sicken you. We fought a war of independence partly against the concept of monarchy.
And does that church really need his grandmother's house more than he does? What vultures!
Once again, the film was too long by at least twenty minutes, which is a lot. Other than the bloated run-time, the film was very well produced from top to bottom: good music, a very realistic atmosphere or the rural South, and good acting form everyone involved. The script? Eh. A bit too trite, too facile, too after-school specially, but once you go into a crusading project like this, there isn't any other place to go, I would imagine.
The problem is, there are way too many people having children who shouldn't. You may argue with other things I've put in this review, but few people could argue with this.