The Middle of the World

Although not what American studios generally mean by "family fare," this drama is actually excellent family viewing -- it both opens a window onto another culture and, through Antonio, speaks the universal language of teen angst.

In the depiction of this unlikely journey -- it is supposedly based on a real-life story -- the film awkwardly veers between naturalism and a striving for poetic myth.

Wants to be both a realistic family drama and a mythical odyssey but lacks the substance to be much more than a vignette.

Debuting helmer Vicente Amorim provides a determined forward movement, which, while lacking in cultural explanation, gives the saga uplift and punch.

A dull film, inspired by a true story.

When they (the family) arrive at their destination, the story arrives at an ending that's neither obvious nor interesting, kind of like the film leading up to it.

Director Vicente Amorim's dramatic instincts evoke after-school specials (most of the drama entails the clan's brooding teenager chomping at the parental bit), and his visual ideas are restricted to aping "City of God's" fish-eye ambience and hectic editing.