Just Like the Son (2006)

A petty thief's mentoring of an apparent orphan takes a profound turn when he kidnaps the boy from a foster home and drives him cross-country to his sister's house in Texas.

Director:

Morgan J. Freeman

Writer:

Morgan J. Freeman

Stars:

Mark Webber, Antonio Ortiz, Brendan Sexton III

5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Webber	...	Daniel
Antonio Ortiz	...	Boone
Brendan Sexton III	...	Grant (as Brendan Sexton)
Rosie Perez	...	Mrs. Ponders
Dylan Blue	...	Chris
Bruce MacVittie	...	Bill
Adrian Martinez	...	Glen
Bill Ladd	...	Fair Worker
Joel Marsh Garland	...	Truck Driver (as Joel M. Garland)
Allen McCullough	...	Detective
Maria E. Heredia	...	Principal's Assistant (as Maria Heredia)
Chris McKinney	...	Highway Patrol
Eva Kaminsky	...	Mrs. Brown
Cara Reid	...	Kelly
Frankie Shaw	...	Brenda

Storyline

"Just Like the Son" chronicles twenty year-old Daniel Carter's (Webber) attempt to help an eight year-old, Boone (Ortiz), find a better life. Daniel First meets Boone while doing community service at an East Village grade school. The boys strike up a friendship during which Daniel learns that Boone's mother is sick and may be hospitalized. He also learns that Boone has an older sister, Charlotte, who lives in Dallas. When Boone does not show up for school a few days later, Daniel begins to ask questions and learns that Boone was placed into a temporary foster care in Upstate New York. After being turned down as an adoption candidate, and failing to convince his Father to help him gain custody, Daniel decides to rescue Boone from the orphanage. He puts all his street smarts to use and they head to Dallas. While the goal is to locate Boone's sister, the heart of the story is the unexpected bond Daniel and Boone form throughout their road trip adventure.

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Plot Keywords:

foster care | road trip | friendship | urban setting | family relationships | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes one chance is all you need to make things right.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief drug use and underage drinking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Feature film debut of Frankie Shaw.

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Soundtracks

Each Coming Night
Performed by Iron & Wine (as Iron and Wine)
Appears Courtesy of Sub Pop Records
Written by Iron & Wine (as Sam Beam)
Published by Sam Beam Music (BMI)

User Reviews

Learning responsibility by being really, really, really irresponsible.

This is a film directed by Morgan Freeman. No, not THAT Morgan Freeman- -this one is Morgan J. Freeman and looks absolutely nothing like the famous one. Perhaps he, too, will be famous...though I doubt if this film will help him along this path.

Mark Webber stars as Daniel--a very, very irresponsible guy with a long record for petty crimes. Inexplicably, while he's working at a local elementary school (what school would hire him?!), he meets a cute kid, Boone (Antonio Ortiz). Boone is a kid who has been in and out of the foster care system and he tells Daniel it has something to do with his mother being sick. The two spend some time together and Daniel really likes the kid. However, the kid soon disappears from the school and presumably went back into the foster care system--so what does Daniel do? Well, without finding out exactly what Boone's story is, Daniel decides to kidnap the kid and take him to some relative in Dallas. However, Boone is only 6 and exactly who this person is and if they are at all responsible never goes through Daniel's pea-sized mind. Instead, he just KNOWS that he needs to get the kid to Dallas even if it means breaking 168 laws in the process.

What follows is a cute buddy film with some very nice acting-- particularly by Ortiz. However, this cannot make up for the fact that the film seems to be endorsing kidnapping and features a lot of irresponsible stuff--presumably because Daniel is working out his own issues through the kid (oh, isn't that healthy!). So, it's a very mixed bag--with some nice moments but it also makes no sense whatsoever. It makes you wonder if perhaps the film could have been a lot better had the script been rewritten.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Just Like the Son

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

SpaceTime Films, LaSalleHolland, 11th Street Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1