Alison Brie has the power to decide which '80s trends should make a comeback and which should stay buried forever.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: The Wise Kids (2011)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Molly Kunz | ... | Brea | |
 |
Eric Hulsebos | ... | Ryan |
| Tyler Ross | ... | Tim | |
|
|
Frank Stennett | ... | Frank |
| Stephen Cone | ... | Austin | |
| Lee Armstrong | ... | Harry | |
| Sadieh Rifai | ... | Elizabeth | |
|
|
Allison Torem | ... | Laura |
|
|
Cynthia Pulsifer | ... | Cynthia |
|
|
Braxton Williams | ... | Braxton |
| Cliff Chamberlain | ... | Dylan | |
|
|
Laurel Schroeder | ... | Erin |
| Rodney Lee Rogers | ... | Pastor Jim | |
|
|
Sullivan Hamilton | ... | Haley |
| Jonathan Jones | ... | Josh | |
A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free. Written by Stephen Cone
Explore popular and recently added TV series available to stream now with Prime Video.
An unassuming no-budget film (there's a long list of Kickstarter contributors in the credits) that has its heart in the right place, even if production values are a bit shaky. Writer/director Stephen Cone doesn't have much of a flair for natural-sounding dialogue, though I was impressed that he gives his most effective speeches to one teenage character (Laura, beautifully played by Allison Torrem) who's not having a crisis of conscience and who stoutly defends the values of the conservative Baptist community she was born into; in two of the more engaging scenes, she explains why she finds female preachers "kind of creepy" (cf. 1 Cor. 13:34, 35) and, later on, pleads with her BFF not to lose her faith because "I totally want to be with you in Heaven."
The more conventional coming-of-age crises of the other main characters didn't seem as compelling, though the performances are perfectly fine; the closeted drama coach's moment of what used to be called homosexual panic is certainly one that any viewer with functioning gaydar will have seen coming from a long way down the road. I agree with other viewers that the film seems to be heavily padded with random atmospherics and drawn-out reaction shots that don't do much to advance the plot; the best line in the script is a barely audible throwaway—a cast member in a Nativity play gets off a wisecrack to the effect of "That's why you'll always be a shepherd and never a Wise Man."