This movie reminded me in ways of Stand By Me and Boys In The Hood...very reflective, with themes of growing up and interpersonal relationship, but also like Stand By Me a theme of journey.
Except for a somewhat overly sweet ending, the tone of the movie and the characters are right on the mark, exactly right for the themes and plot and character development. The acting was very real and human, and the characters could be easily related to. Even with sometimes sensitive subject matter, never did the acting seem at all false, in fact it seemed particularly true with the hardest subjects. (The sweet surprise ending, however, does not quite make sense with the rest of the plot, and made other parts of the plot seem somewhat unrealistic, though they were quite realistic without this revelation.)
I would recommend the film highly. Note that due to sensitive subject matter, parents should probably see the film before letting younger children see it, and watch the film with them.
Except for a somewhat overly sweet ending, the tone of the movie and the characters are right on the mark, exactly right for the themes and plot and character development. The acting was very real and human, and the characters could be easily related to. Even with sometimes sensitive subject matter, never did the acting seem at all false, in fact it seemed particularly true with the hardest subjects. (The sweet surprise ending, however, does not quite make sense with the rest of the plot, and made other parts of the plot seem somewhat unrealistic, though they were quite realistic without this revelation.)
I would recommend the film highly. Note that due to sensitive subject matter, parents should probably see the film before letting younger children see it, and watch the film with them.