I had read about some accolades and awards 'The Way He Looks' has been getting in anticipation of its theatrical release in several countries. As I was suspecting, there is too much hype around the movie. It has lousy screen play, a predictable story line as in most "coming of age" teen featured movies, and really bad acting for most supporting characters.
There is nothing special or enticing about the movie, and I think most of their intended teen audience would roll eyes at how obvious and repetitive the scenes are. Disability and sexuality are brought together as a failed attempt to build an unique character, but it ends up resorting to regular teen movie staple clichés, the sort of pick-and-mix ones you can randomly thrown in together and write a lame context story around to get a light and superficial movie about light teen themes (friendship, unrequited love, mood swings, middle-class teen rebellion-lite, adults that don't get the teen world etc.)
Actually, you can find most teen movie stock characters in this film. Mean evil girl chasing after boys? Check. Popular-but-deeply-insecure alpha male student? Check. Misfit goof-ball? Check. Cool kids that supply alcohol? Check. Uni-dimensional parents at odds with each other? Check.
The issues (sexuality, disability) that would make 'The Way He Looks' a shocking and/or groundbreaking movie don't work that way; if writer and director Daniel Ribeiro intended so, he is probably a decade too late.
I honestly don't understand why this movie is so hyped, I think it deserves not much of it. Therefore, I give it a vote score of 4/10 and not a single half-point more.
There is nothing special or enticing about the movie, and I think most of their intended teen audience would roll eyes at how obvious and repetitive the scenes are. Disability and sexuality are brought together as a failed attempt to build an unique character, but it ends up resorting to regular teen movie staple clichés, the sort of pick-and-mix ones you can randomly thrown in together and write a lame context story around to get a light and superficial movie about light teen themes (friendship, unrequited love, mood swings, middle-class teen rebellion-lite, adults that don't get the teen world etc.)
Actually, you can find most teen movie stock characters in this film. Mean evil girl chasing after boys? Check. Popular-but-deeply-insecure alpha male student? Check. Misfit goof-ball? Check. Cool kids that supply alcohol? Check. Uni-dimensional parents at odds with each other? Check.
The issues (sexuality, disability) that would make 'The Way He Looks' a shocking and/or groundbreaking movie don't work that way; if writer and director Daniel Ribeiro intended so, he is probably a decade too late.
I honestly don't understand why this movie is so hyped, I think it deserves not much of it. Therefore, I give it a vote score of 4/10 and not a single half-point more.