Twelve (2010)

A young drug dealer watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime.

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers:

Jordan Melamed (screenplay), Nick McDonell (novel)

Stars:

Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chace Crawford	...	White Mike
Rory Culkin	...	Chris
Philip Ettinger	...	Hunter
Esti Ginzburg	...	Sara Ludlow
50 Cent	...	Lionel (as Curtis Jackson)
Zoë Kravitz	...	Gabby
Billy Magnussen	...	Claude
Emily Meade	...	Jessica Brayson
Emma Roberts	...	Molly
Ellen Barkin	...	Jessica's Mother
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Narrator (voice)
Ako	...	Mrs. Fong
Dionne Audain	...	Nana's Mother
Gregg Bello	...	Detective Keminski
Maxx Brawer	...	Andrew

Storyline

A young drug dealer watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime.

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Plot Keywords:

younger version of character | murder | generation y | coitus | strained relationship | 

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Taglines:

No one needs anything here. It's all about want.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong drug content, alcohol abuse, language, sexual material, brief nudity and some violence - all involving teens

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

12

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$110,238, 8 August 2010

Gross USA:

$183,920

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,566,717

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Hannover House, Radar Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby SR DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Joel Schumacher previously worked with Emma Roberts' aunt Julia Roberts (who was also formerly engaged to Kiefer Sutherland) on Flatliners (1990) and Dying Young (1991).

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Goofs

The blood on Hunter's face disappears and reappears throughout the interrogation scene at the police station

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Quotes

Narrator: You have seen that before you lies a great stretch of road and it is windswept or blasted by the hot sun or covered in snow or it is dirt or concrete or shrouded in darkness or bright and clear so you have to squint. But no matter what it feels utterly empty. But there are sons who have lost mothers and mothers who have lost sons. So... we must live the best life we can.

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Connections

References Rescue Me (2004)

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Soundtracks

15 to 20
(uncredited)
Written by Phenomenal Handclap Band
Performed by Phenomenal Handclap Band

User Reviews

Think visual book

I read the reviews on-site and many off-site before watching this and saw they were very polarized, so I even went through some European reviews, which treated it quite a bit nicer but which were also pretty polarized. I did notice that, as of this writing, 20% of the people voting here on IMDb gave it a 10, which is significantly higher than even George Clooney's latest film, "The American" received, although it has a somewhat higher overall score. The major complaint I read amongst all the reviews was about the ongoing narration but, I thought, it's only a dollar rental and if it's too intrusive I can always watch something else. So, I decided to give it a spin.

Imagine you are watching a young man in a room, alone with the open casket of his mother, who had just passed away from cancer. He's thinking that the wig the undertaker put on her, to hide her hair loss from the therapy, was unbecoming. He would rather see her for the last time as she really was at the end of her days, bald-headed. This is an important thought of his, which sets up a subsequent scene that would otherwise be totally inexplicable.

How can a film-maker express this thought? By introducing someone into the room with which the young man can have a conversation about this? No, that destroys the solitude of the moment. By having him speak this thought aloud to his mother's remains? Not very likely. By creating a completely new scene where someone is present and then create an artifice to have a conversation about it? No, that adds unnecessary complexity and bulk to wade through, confusing the storyline.

What Schumacher does is to use a narrator to give the viewer a short-cut directly into the minds of his characters at times - many times. This makes the film somewhat more like a visual book than a movie. It wouldn't do for most movies but it was effective here. (I got a good chuckle from the vapidity of the last thought of Sara's that we are exposed to.) It is a different approach but I, for one, enjoyed it. I most probably would not of enjoyed the book this film is based on, as I don't think there was enough plot substance here to make an enjoyable book for me but I do think there was sufficient substance for a film. 6.5 out of 10.