12 and Holding

This was certainly the most accessible movie I saw at New Directors/New Films. It has some charm, but it is being vastly overrated by some, e.g. Stephen Holden in the NY Times. The script is wildly uneven, and is [not surprisingly] much better when it is funny than when it is serious. The plot and the characters are often cartoonish.

Best are the kids, who give the movie nearly all its entertainment value. Although, as a director friend pointed out, their inexperience shows, this may be a sign of uneven direction. Michael Cuesta also gave us L.I.E., a movie with much more emotional heft and very memorable performances by Brian Cox and two teenage boys. This is a lesser movie, occasionally terrible, in fact, but worth seeing if you gauge your expectations accordingly.