If this is indeed a based-on-a-true-story account of Gray as a 12-year-old, he seems utterly unperturbed and unrecognising of what a difficult child he used to be. It is also a childhood that is mostly unremarkable - working-class family, parents who are stable and present, annoying older brother, doting and sagely grandfather... Does Gray somehow think that his ordinary childhood is more exceptional than others and thereby deserving of a telling via motion picture?
There is an incongruence between how flagrantly disrespectful towards his parents and elders Gray's alter ego Paul was, and the trepidation the boy endured when faced with impending corporal punishment by his father. As someone who grew up with a perpetually angry and violent father, my exhibiting any disobedience would be asking for trouble, let alone flouting school rules and running afoul of the law. Also emblematic is Paul's social awkwardness and inability to connect with others, besides his grandfather; he tries hard to gain approval by being the class clown but ultimately succeeds only to further isolate himself.
Themes of family, heritage, race and privilege were suggested but unfortunately not fully fleshed out. The movie ends without the protagonist exhibiting any clear signs of growth, so it is unclear how it can be called a coming-of-age story. With such a self-indulgent approach and an unsympathetic character as the lead, it is almost as if Gray could not fully appreciate how his protagonist self can be perceived as self-absorbed and undisciplined. His young self is simply not that compelling.
There is an incongruence between how flagrantly disrespectful towards his parents and elders Gray's alter ego Paul was, and the trepidation the boy endured when faced with impending corporal punishment by his father. As someone who grew up with a perpetually angry and violent father, my exhibiting any disobedience would be asking for trouble, let alone flouting school rules and running afoul of the law. Also emblematic is Paul's social awkwardness and inability to connect with others, besides his grandfather; he tries hard to gain approval by being the class clown but ultimately succeeds only to further isolate himself.
Themes of family, heritage, race and privilege were suggested but unfortunately not fully fleshed out. The movie ends without the protagonist exhibiting any clear signs of growth, so it is unclear how it can be called a coming-of-age story. With such a self-indulgent approach and an unsympathetic character as the lead, it is almost as if Gray could not fully appreciate how his protagonist self can be perceived as self-absorbed and undisciplined. His young self is simply not that compelling.