King Jack

A well acted drama about life in a American small-town for a teenage boy outcast.

What I like is that it holds nothing back, the characters feel very much real and the dialog is explicit and the darker themes are portrayed as ugly as they are in real life.

So although it is a movie about kids, it's not necessarily FOR kids. In fact some scenes are rather disturbing and of adult matter so one could argue the complete opposite.

The style of the movie is a bit reminiscent of David Gordon Green's indie-dramas and it will be interesting to see what the director Felix Thompson will do next, hopefully this movie will be his big break, it's certainly worthy of attention.

Good soundtrack as well.

I understand that this is the Director's first outing. I feel the movie is impeccable. It is empathetic and authentic. In the majority of movies, there is a protagonist that you fundamentally like. It takes the entire movie to get to this point and is comparatively brave in this regard.

Whilst it pulls few punches, it is sensitively undertaken and I feel it could be watched by a comparatively young audience.

If you have never been bullied, you are extremely fortunate. If you are being bullied - you need to discover a strategy that works for you that counters that desolate feeling of victimisation.

A small. well-crafted, well-acted, well-photographed movie. A fabulous first outing for the Director.

This is best described as a 'coming of age' film I'd say. Whatever that really means. Ever notice that these films, if artily shot and well acted can get away with a lot?

This is in that category. What does it get away with? Well, a lead character who I think you're supposed to root for who really isn't all that likable. If you're not really meant to root for him the film is just a short glimpse of his life that doesn't really mean a great deal or lead anywhere. It's just a series of crappy events that he lives through for a few days.

Hazy summer shots skillfully photographed and easy on the ear melancholy songs help glide you along. But for me at the end I'm just wondering, well, why? Is there a point? No? Well at least it looked pretty.

You may as well watch 'Mud' for a masterful example in this genre

In Short: This is a gritty portrayal of the life of the "kid no one likes". We all knew someone like that in school. Like it or not, this is what the youth of today are like. The backstabbing, the violence, the pure hatred of rivals. It's real.

To survive adolescence nowadays, in an environment similar to Jack's, it's akin to going to war everyday. The methods of the bully may have changed over time, but the point of the bully remains the same: to scare and intimidate the bullied into submission.

Two things you may LIKE about "King Jack":

+ The acting; not just with script delivery but expressive emotions; to make this story really work, an actor needs to expose a part of them they may not like; kudos to Charlie Plummer (Jack) and Danny Flaherty (Shane). + The script; written and directed by Felix Thompson; if you were a bully or the bullied, this will trigger something in you.

Two things you may NOT LIKE about "King Jack":

+ The script; (see above) + The violence and aggression; it may be a little overboard and hard to believe at times.

Acting was good, soundtrack was good (though at times more uplifting than the moment deserved), tone was good, but overall it was too gritty for what it was, and there wasn't enough character growth or reason for the character growth. I don't know, maybe that's just the way "slice-of-life" movies tend to be. But it seemed possibly too overtly brutal - my dad watching it with me just walked away half way through when it became clear this was going to be just a lot of violent bullying, uncomfortable teen coed angst/drinking/fighting/smoking etc.

Overall I respect the movie - it was well done and I'll tell people about it, but I'm not about to full-heartedly recommend it or watch it again.