A Tale of Two Coreys (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews

Bias story

[mullenliam · 4/10 · 9 February 2019]

Very evident Corey feldman had a hand in writing this story he makes himself look like a saint

A very B movie retelling, will apeal to those from the 80's

[juneebuggy · 5/10 · 23 April 2018]

This was a VERY B-movie retelling of the relationship between Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, including the start of their teen friendship during the '80s, their rise to fame and their struggles with drugs, partying, and the untimely death of Haim in 2010. No real secrets given away here and also a one sided telling through the eyes of Corey Feldman alone.

This is a very basic movie, it watches sorta like a behind the music documentary with dramatizations of the situations/years unfolding. The acting is bad and the story disjointed or with a skipped over storytelling style. We see their first movie roles, their families, the partying, the drugs, the abuse, its sad.

We get glimpses of Michael Jackson, (nothing given away there) and both Feldman and Haim are sexually abused by industry men who are meant to be watching after them. If this movie had been made 10 years ago the scandal and focus would have been on the drug abuse now its sexual abuse. The very sad thing about this is that both of these guys were just used up and spit out by the industry. I remember watching the reality show The Two Coreys which for the most part focused on Haim trying to get or stay sober and break back into Hollywood. Sadly he lost his fight, this is briefly touched on here. The ending is haunting.

Interresting subject, bad movie

[Philippe_Douglas_Morisson · 4/10 · 16 June 2019]

As I wrote in the headline, the subject of this film is interesting but the script, the actors'direction and the actors are really mediocre. It's a pity because it would be interesting to show in a "good movie" how this cinematographic system crushes live of those young stars.

Corey Feldman made this without the Haim Family Input or Blessing

[spiderholerecords · 1/10 · 19 June 2020]

This movie is an adaptation of a fraudulent book by the name of Coreyography, Corey Feldman's Memoir. This book is ground zero when it comes to this (Truth) scam he released on the tenth anniversary of Corey Haim's death. You know, the one he wanted $10 million dollars to release names in, that one. Watch this to see what history Corey Feldman wants you to believe. From adding sexual abuse to Corey Haim's history to beating up bully's in his own Corey Feldman should be ashamed.. but hey, if anyones heard his music i'm not sure he's capable of Shame or Honesty. The Haim family were not involved in this disaster.

Not bad as other reviews say

[jadediamond · 7/10 · 1 April 2018]

Okay, you have to take in account this is a Lifetime movie. The editing and transitions weren't great. The voiceovers weren't necessary and sometimes it felt like a documentary instead of a movie. I think this is the movie Corey Feldman did crowdfunding to get made. He did the best he could do on his budget. With that said, this was a good movie if you take those factors into consideration. The actors were great. The guy who played young Corey Feldman was pretty good even though he did not look exactly like Corey Feldman. But the other actors did favored the younger and older version of the Two Coreys. It's a good story about the sexual deviant behavior in Hollywood with the homosexuality and the pedophilia. Instead of allowing these two boys to be teenagers, they were exposed to an endless supply of drugs, assigned pedophiles to chaperone them. Haim's parents were unaware of the things he went through on the film set. Feldman's parents saw him as a meal ticket instead of treating their child like normal parents would. It seemed like Feldman had to raise himself including fired his father as his manager when he realized his father was stealing from him and making bad management decision that assisted in shortening Feldman's career. When the King of Pop can't reason with you, then you know you're a bad manager

I liked how Feldman showed us a glimpse of Michael Jackson through their unique friendship. I don't know why Hollywood and mostly white people are obsessed with labeling Michael Jackson as a pedophile even when Feldman, Macaulay Culkin, Emmanuel Lewis, and even his alleged victims all said he never sexually abused them. Yes, Michael was weird and a man child, but he also had a heart of gold like Feldman allowed us to see in the bathroom scene at Neverland.

This was a great movie with the budget Feldman had. It was great honor to Michael Jackson, Corey Haim, and even Carrie Fisher, who tried to give Feldman some words of wisdom on the set of the Burbs movies. Based of what we know from Corey Haim from the biographies, the documentaries, and the scripted reality TV series is that he would have loved this movie and wanted to be apart of it. Even though the ups and downs the Coreys experience through their twenty year off again on again friendship, I am glad that the two Coreys reconciled with each other and that Haim was in a good place when he left this world. Overall, it was a good movie.

VIEWS ON FILM review of A Tale of Two Coreys

[burlesonjesse5 · 5/10 · 6 February 2018]

Do you remember Corey Feldman and Corey Haim? I do. They were young actors from the late 80's and early 90's. They became buddies and did at least seven films together. Being about the same age as both of them, I must have binged-watched License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream profusely.

Anyway, A Tale of Two Coreys is my latest write-up. In chronological order, it glosses over Feldman and Haim's twenty-plus-year friendship. With its 1986 chic look, its cheesy music soundtrack, and its even cheesier production values, "Coreys" is TV movie personified. Actually, it's a Lifetime movie and an underwhelming one at that.

Speaking of Lifetime movies, well they're a guilty pleasure of mine. They are conflicting and manipulative and they suck you right in. A Tale of Two Coreys does go to some dark places and it somewhat shocks you with what supposedly happened to these dudes (drug addiction, being from broken families, being sexually abused on movie sets, etc.).

However, where most Lifetime flicks clock in at two immense hours, "Coreys" registers at about ninety minutes (and that's with commercials). Although cutesy and dire at the same time, "Coreys" doesn't scratch enough surface nor does it give these BFF's a thorough testimonial.

As for the acting, well there's four troupers that play Feldman and Haim over various periods of time. With the exception of Justin Ellings who channels young Haimster, the other three don't resemble their mannerisms or personalities in any capacity. No one gives a lousy performance mind you. It's just that the casting by Dean E. Fronk and Donald Paul Pemrick (two veterans in their field) is kinda off.

In conclusion, The Tale of Two Coreys doesn't suffer with its straight-line storytelling and odious Hollywood insight. Also, you can say that director Steven Huffmaker tries to make you feel somewhat nostalgic (watch for a cameo involving Keith Coogan who was once a teen idol himself). Nevertheless, I just can't find it in my heart to recommend "Coreys". Might I suggest watching The Two Coreys reality show instead. It's the actual guys on screen. Yeah, it may have been scripted but to an extent, it's poser-free. Rating: 2 stars.

Superficial and a bit cheaply done

[phd_travel · 4/10 · 10 January 2018]

This is one of the first movies to come out dealing with sexual abuse in Hollywood since the Weinstien scandal broke. Unfortunately the movie has a bit of a cheap feel and rather stilted acting. It does show some abuse but it doesn't show what the viewer would want to see like the successes or famous romances of the 2 Coreys. Also Corey Haim's death is just glossed over in the post script.

Maybe the next movie dealing with such a subject matter will be better.

Mediocre At Best

[eee2005 · 5/10 · 10 January 2018]

What I like best about the film is the nostalgic feeling of the 80's and seeing it through the perspective of the Coreys. Although I must admit I wonder how much of this film is truly through the eyes of Corey Haim. After all, It's been 8 years since his passing, so it's not like he can have a say on it's accuracy. But for the most part it does paint a pretty picture for Corey Feldman in comparison to Corey Haim. Albeit it was interesting to get an idea of how they met and basically relive the 80's with them. Which was quite fun for me being that I'm the same age range as the Coreys.

However, regardless of my nostalgic childhood bias, I can't ignore the fact that the direction of the film was half fast.The casting was weak, especially for Corey Feldman. Not only did Elijah Marcano not look like Feldman, which is forgivable, but he definitely did not embodied the energy of Corey Feldman. I've seen enough behind the scenes interviews, commentary and the like to know what Feldog is like. This kid was too laid back and mediocre at best. Shame on the director for not pushing him more. The pacing of the film is somewhat basic. It almost feels like a scripted documentary rather than a movie at times. Also I felt the music was a tiny bit over done at times.

In a nut shell I wouldn't expect too much if you are planning to see this film. It's very basic and a good watch if you are curious about the Coreys in general. But you'll probably get a lot more accuracy just from some basic online research. Hopefully the movie will inspire you to do just that. The movie gets a pass, it's just a shame that the movie wasn't as entertaining as it could be if given better direction. Because the story of the Coreys is very interesting from a documentary standpoint. So imagine if you truly stylized their story in the form of a really good movie. What a shame.

Thank you from your true 80's Fans!

[TravelLarge · 9/10 · 7 January 2018]

I am the exact age of the two Coreys and had their pictures hanging all over my room. I was happy to see this Lifetime movie made. I was upset when the Two Corey's reality show displayed Corey Haim as a drug addict that could not get over his issues being a 40 year old adult. I lost my love for him and believe that Corey Feldman did the right thing by not allowing drugs to come back into his life and possibly having a midlife. He is a strong person, a true survivor. This Movie shows fans how Corey Haim got to that place in his life. Mothers can only protect your children so much and it is sad that this was allowed in Hollywood. It is shameful and sickening. I find it hard to believe that there were no witnesses to this behavior. These kids needed protection and you can't tell me that people were not around that could have stopped this. How many people does it take to make a movie? Hundreds. Shame on those people for not noticing or being silent. I hope that Corey F. knows what a brave person he is and hope he knows understands how many kids he will save by speaking out. I would be sick if this had happened to one of my kids, and most likely dead of an overdose if it would have happened to me. Corey Haim would be proud of his friend. Even though Haim's mother is mad, she will never understand and only see it from a mother's view. She should be thankful to Corey F. This movie was a great tribute to Corey Haim and his fans now understand what he went through. It was better to end this way, than on the Reality two Corey's. I cried hard after it was over. To: Corey Feldman. Thank you for clearing up Michael Jackson's name! You have no idea the pain & doubt that you lifted for his fans and I am so sorry for all your loses that you have endured in your life. Thank you!

Very Disappointing Film

[jenaycarter · 3/10 · 14 July 2019]

Both "Corey's" are certainly great actors. But this film is a straight up "no", better yet a huge "NO". This film makes me upset. Why?

But correct me if I'm wrong but this story seems to be told only from Corey Feldman's point of view.Basically one sided. And my issue is, what makes him think that he has every right to say what happened in Corey Hiam's life when most of the time he wasn't there. Sure we know about the drugs and the sex and the abuse that was going on from both homes. But come on Feldman you could have done better than this.

However I do like how he explains that Michael Jackson was a kind gentle person ( as we the audience and some knew already ). And I really liked that. But on Corey Haim's part, I don't think the film did him any justice. Yes they were best friends but the film could have been a little less BS and I just wish this film wasn't all for how Corey Feldman "believes" he was a good friend to Corey Haim.

Unexpectedly relevant for "the moment"

[mgconlan-1 · 7 January 2018]

Last night I watched the Lifetime movie "A Tale of Two Coreys," yet another tiresome story of promising Hollywood careers derailed by drug use. The promising Hollywood careers that got derailed were those of young actors Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, who met while appearing in the film "The Lost Boys," became bosom buddies and were frequently bracketed in teen-idol magazines as "The Two Coreys." The Lifetime movie about then was directed by Steven Huffaker from a script by an even larger writing committee than usual: the story is credited to Feldman himself along with Tejal Desai, Jeffrey Schenck. Peter Sullivan and Henry Wassenburger, and Schenck, Sullivan, Wassenburger and Jessica Dube are credited with the screenplay (and on screen the writers' names are linked with ampersands rather than the word "and," meaning that they all worked on the script together instead of taking it over relay-style one from the other). It's narrated in flashbacks by both Feldman, who's still alive and sat for an interview that was taped and aired after the movie; and Haim, who died from pneumonia in 2010 after a lifelong struggle with drug abuse. The producers and casting directors Dean E. Frank and Donald Paul Penrick double-cast the parts of Feldman and Haim, with Elijah Marcano and Justin Ellings playing Feldman and Haim (in that order) as teenagers and Scott Bosely and Casey Leach playing them as adults. Elijah Marcano is a hauntingly beautiful young man who doesn't look either like the real Corey Feldman in his teens - quite frankly, his ethereal baby face and long brown hair would have made him better casting for a biopic of David Cassidy than of Corey Feldman - and he also doesn't look like he'd grow up to be the nice-bodied but rather hatchet-faced Scott Bosely. Justin Ellings doesn't look like he'll grow up to look like his adult counterpart, Casey Leach, though for my money Leach was by far the sexiest of the four: tall, blond, muscular, butch and also quite strikingly reminiscent of the surviving film of the older Corey Haim.

For the most part "A Tale of Two Coreys" is a pretty-standard issue "Behnd the Music" story of a promising young talent (in this case, two promising young talents) wrecking their careers by partying, clubbing, sex, drinking and, most destructively, drugging. But there are two distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from most addiction narratives. One is how vividly it demonstrates that child actors are really commodities, controlled both by their bosses and their parents; in one chilling scene, Feldman comes home after three classmates bullied and badly beat him when he bragged to them about landing a major movie role - and his mom sees the bruises on his face and, rather than say anything supportive, chews him out for having got into a fight that bruised his highly valuable face and risked him getting replaced in that big role. Both Feldman and Haim came from broken homes; Feldman's parents divorced before he started his career and Haim's broke up while he was just taking off as a young actor - and Feldman's dad was an aspiring rock musician and his son's manager until Feldman abruptly fired him after realizing his dad was just taking his money and pushing him off into quick-buck projects that would bring in short-term income but be bad for his long-term career. The breaking point came when Feldman's good friend Michael Jackson told him it was stupid for Feldman to appear on the quiz show "The Hollywood Squares" because "that's something you do at the end of your career," but dad remained firm that Feldman do that show and not even Michael Jackson himself, dressed in the costume he wore on the cover of Bad and played by Brandon Howard (who looks "blacker" than the real Jackson did at that point but gets the famously whispery speaking voice down pat), can talk Feldman père out of pushing his son onto a humiliating gig.

The other unusual part of this film - and one which makes it particularly relevant in the so-called "moment" in which America in general and Hollywood in particular are becoming more aware of, and more sensitive to, charges of sexual harassment and the heads of once-powerful people are rolling as they get ousted from their jobs and positions of power following revelations of their records of sexual misconduct over the years - is the allegation that both Feldman and Haim were raped early in their careers, before they were over the age of consent, by the people who were supposedly on the sets of their films to chaperone and protect them. Indeed, though the story is only obliquely hinted at in the movie itself, Feldman is more explicit about it in his post-film intervie2, saying that both straight and Gay pedophilia is the real dark secret of Hollywood. Though he's still too scared of the man who raped him to mention his name - he says the man is still a power player in the industry and could literally have him killed, which is why, he told his interviewer, he has at least one bodyguard (and usually more than one) on duty all the time, including at home when he sleeps - he describes himself as "a man on a mission" to expose the rampant pedophilia in Hollywood and drive its perpetrators from power. Given that memoirs of classic Hollywood have exposed such legendary names from the past as David O. Selznick, Arthur Freed and John Huston as pedophiles, I can readily believe everything Feldman is saying. Both the film and Feldman's post-film interview make clear that not only is the "casting couch" alive and well, but young men are as likely to be the victims of it as young women

Absolute waste of time!

[wmusiwa · 1/10 · 19 March 2018]

Don't bother with this movie there is no moral to the story what's so ever, no climax to story, simply BLAND! Wasted an hour and a half of my life.......