Sticks & Stones (1996)

For three junior high school friends, growing up takes a dangerous turn when the local bully targets them with his aggression. With no one to turn to but each other, they muster the courage to take a shot at settling the score.

Director:

Neil Tolkin

Writer:

Neil Tolkin

Stars:

Justin Isfeld, Max Goldblatt, Chauncey Leopardi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Justin Isfeld	...	Joey
Max Goldblatt	...	Book
Chauncey Leopardi	...	Mouth
Jordan Brower	...	Hayes
Gary Busey	...	Book's Dad
Kirstie Alley	...	Joey's Mom
Matt McCoy	...	Joey's Dad
Mark-Paul Gosselaar	...	Dale (as Mark Paul Gosselaar)
Ryan Francis	...	Scooter
Bojesse Christopher	...	Vic (as Bo Jesse Christopher)
Joel Harkham	...	Rusty
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Book's Mom (as Lisa Eichorn)
Ann Hearn	...	Mouth's Mom
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Hayes' Dad
Shelly Lipkin	...	Principal Richard

Storyline

For three junior high school friends, growing up takes a dangerous turn when the local bully targets them with his aggression. With no one to turn to but each other, they muster the courage to take a shot at settling the score.

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Plot Keywords:

bully | boy | family relationships | bullying | baseball | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for irresponsible gun use, vicious bullying and crude language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Three Blind Mice

Filming Locations:

Glendora, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldbar Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Joeys mitt changes color between shots during pitching

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Connections

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

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Soundtracks

People Change
Written by Brian James
Performed by Pure Blue
Publishers - Silva Screen music publishers LTD
Courtesy of SILVA SCREEN RECORDS

User Reviews

Bad, but not that bad

I can't bring myself to give 1 star to a movie that isn't as bad as "Manos" but this film definitely does not merit the current average rating of 6.5. First off, Gary Busey and Kirstie Allie are excellent actors and their professionalism shows. The cinematography is adequate.

If you remember the assorted 70's era religious films, the dialog and most of the other acting is about on par with that. (Some of the more recent religious films are far and away better than this movie.)

Even though the kids cuss in this film, a lot of their dialog seems like how 1940's era script writers wrote for kids. "See you later, champ." Champ?

Generally speaking, I think bullies are grossly mis-represented in films. (The exception being "Napoleon Dynamite" where the bullies are as lame and dorky as everyone else.) In "Sticks&Stones" we have a bully who looks almost a bit too angelic... and that's probably not too bad for casting... but he manages not to be intimidated by a crazed Gary Busey. Busey can intimidate adults. Said bully isn't especially big or threatening himself, but manages to push around 3 kids who could easily brush him off collectively. The 3 are friends who display remarkable solidarity in everything... except to stand up to their most hated person. One-on- one bullying scenes make a bit more sense, except the ones that don't. Like one locker room scene that makes you wonder if there are any teachers at this school. And there's a scene with a student locking an outside door on the school. Um. No. Did the writers never go to school?

Anyways, other reviewers are right. It's a sappy, overly sentimental movie. This might be a good movie to watch with kids... unless you'd rather your kids not use bad language. But generally give this movie a miss and find something else to watch.