The Forger (2012)

A teenager wanders into Carmel, California, where he is soon introduced to the art-forgery community.

Director:

Lawrence Roeck

Writer:

Carlos De Los Rios (screenplay)

Stars:

Lauren Bacall, Josh Hutcherson, Alfred Molina

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lauren Bacall	...	Anne-Marie
Josh Hutcherson	...	Joshua
Alfred Molina	...	Everly Campbell
Billy Boyd	...	Bernie
Dina Eastwood	...	Vanessa Reese
Adam Godley	...	Pinkus
Scott Eastwood	...	Ryan Felter
Alexandra Carl	...	Rachel
Hayden Panettiere	...	Amber Felter
Tricia Helfer	...	Sasha
Kim Myers	...	Brynn Mason
Jansen Panettiere	...	Aram
José Zúñiga	...	Mr. Weathers
Zuhair Haddad	...	Amir
Robert Harvey	...	Real Painter

Storyline

Joshua, a teenager with a drugged-out mother on the run, wanders into the affluent community of Carmel, California. After getting himself into trouble, the authorities try to track down his mother. But in the meantime, a successful artist/businessman offers to take in Joshua and let him have a chance at a good life. His motives are questionable considering his line of business and how he plans to use Joshua's artistic talents, but Joshua has met a girl and he's not sure if the money is worth selling off his morals.

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Plot Keywords:

art | carmel california | teenager | ex stripper | trespassing | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some fighting

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Filming Locations:

Carmel, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bahr Productions Inc., Experience Media Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
Joshua: [voiceover] I learned to say "I'm sorry" and "thank you" and how to keep my fists to myself, but the best lesson I learned...
Amber: Help me up.
Joshua: [voiceover] First you kiss the hand and then you kiss the girl.

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Soundtracks

"Backseat"
Written by Carina Round & Gary Go
Published by Carina Round Music/TCR Music Ltd.

User Reviews

Carmel looks like paradise on earth.

I suppose, well, no, I know, that most of the reviews before mine are right about the many holes in the script, the flimsy dialog, the wrong casting for the main character (a twenty year old actor to represent a fifteen year old character) and several other flaws.

But I enjoyed the movie from beginning to end.

I just watched it as if it was a Walt Disney production, knowing that I couldn't expect more than what was offered and so, I wasn't as disappointed as the other reviewers that were waiting to see an Eric Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's".

Well, sorry, There was only ONE Eric Rohmer, and it wasn't this one. So, back to THIS movie: If you lower your expectations it isn't a bad movie to spend a couple of hours watching some very good actors practicing their trade in a gorgeous environment (Carmel) with some nice eye candy (Hayden Panettiere and Scott Eastwood) a very dignified Lauren Bacall and a born actor, Alfred Molina.

In contrast to all the other critics, what really bothered me as the weakest point of the script was the unpolished way to represent the forgery of an old painting (too long to go into specifics) but just one enormous flaw: Molina was an expert forger and surely he should have known that no matter how much you clean an old canvas to erase the original painting, traces of that painting will be seen when looking through the new layer of paint with special equipment.

Forget about all those weak points within the script and enjoy this movie as a very good piece of light entertainment.