Max_Kadillac

The cruelest thing about this film was how it was 'sold' to me. A friend (at the time) told me it was a work of utter genius, once you understood its logic. So, I sat on the edge of the couch, devoting 100% of my mental faculties to unpacking its inner brilliance. There were jokes about pedophilia, dead moose, sausages. There were scenes that seemed like they were intended to be comedy, or at least that was my intuition, except for the fact that none of them were funny. Brutal un-funniness notwithstanding, what was the intention of the film makers - ie how did they think the audience would interpret this as 'humour', given that it lacked any and all required elements? Anyway, i cut all ties with the friend who recommended this film, have given up on trying to integrate its puerile non-logic into my existing worldview, and have gotten on with my life again. You know those films where you imagine how it was financed? This is THE perfect example - imagine Tom Green sitting across from a bunch of film execs, mumbling about moose and pedophilia, possibly with his genitals laid out on the table (CUZ ITS FUNNY HA HA) and them just cutting him a bumper check with which to devolve the entire field of cinema. Utterly baffling.

This movie is beautiful in so many ways - the main character's unaffected and honest way of communicating with the kids, the charming setting, the melancholic feel of knowing that this is the final year of so so many for the teacher/ protagonist. If you need something to watch that will make you feel warm and fuzzy (and perhaps shed a tear) look no further - a beautifully executed film about a wonderful man that will fill you with hope, no matter how cynical you may feel.

I'm a huge documentary fan, and this has to be in my top 20 of all time. Its honest and doesn't pontificate, it presents grueling scenarios with enough force to sicken you, but never revels in the pain it presents. The careful balance of the films production is even more striking when you realize the depth of the filmmakers personal involvement in the story. Finally, with all the dysfunction and harrowing scenes, it still steers clear of the simple option of painting those onscreen as simple 'victims' or 'bad people'. An unflinching, heartbreaking and deeply moving film. Highly recommended.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I don't mind high-concept films, i don't mind gore, the bizarre films, i don't mind comedy, but unfortunately this film fails (spectacularly) on all of those fronts. Easily the worst film I've been unlucky enough to buy a ticket to for many, many years. A nasty, humorless, adolescent, heavy-handed, badly acted crap-fest that leads one to wonder exactly how the supply-side of the crack trade keeps up with Kevin Smiths evidently Herculean intake. If you are a Smith fan-boy and you are STILL supporting Kevin and his films, it's not too late to shake off your uncritical and blind devotion (he will never write another Clerks) and find something worthwhile to align yourself with.