First, Eamon Owens is absolutely incredible playing a child slipping into insanity. Francie's insanity seemed fluid and real, and Owens' acting was, IMO, the best part of the movie. Unfortunately, it was also the only good part about this movie.
Here's the plot. Basically, you have a kid, Francie, who's father is a drunk and whose mother is depressed. He hangs around with his friend Joe doing things that little kids do, including bullying another kid Plillip. Things start to happen in Francie's life and child mischief turns darker and darker.
Okay, fine, great idea, but you also get a sense that the kid is evil to begin with. He seems to be conscious of what he's doing. A tagline for this movie was "innocence undone", but I don't think Francie was that innocent at all. The movie never made a connection between what happened to his parents and Francie's behavior. One could argue that the connection's obvious, but I think that's an insult to anyone coming from a less than a "Leave it to Beaver"-like family. His father loved him despite, his mother loved him despite, and he was incorrigible, despite.
I also don't think this deserves a black comedy label. For me, a black comedy is not just laughing at something unplesant, but laughing directly at that unpleasant action. Francie does some horrible stuff, but says something funny. That's not black comedy. That's throwing a joke into an unplesant scene. If you want black comedy, few movies are better than "Man Bites Dog"
Unfortunately, this movie followed a formula that got repetitive: kid does something bad. Kid says something funny. Something bad happens. optional Kodak moment where kid drops down another level. Wash, rinse, repeat.
6/10 -- original, yes, but in this case, no points for originality.
Here's the plot. Basically, you have a kid, Francie, who's father is a drunk and whose mother is depressed. He hangs around with his friend Joe doing things that little kids do, including bullying another kid Plillip. Things start to happen in Francie's life and child mischief turns darker and darker.
Okay, fine, great idea, but you also get a sense that the kid is evil to begin with. He seems to be conscious of what he's doing. A tagline for this movie was "innocence undone", but I don't think Francie was that innocent at all. The movie never made a connection between what happened to his parents and Francie's behavior. One could argue that the connection's obvious, but I think that's an insult to anyone coming from a less than a "Leave it to Beaver"-like family. His father loved him despite, his mother loved him despite, and he was incorrigible, despite.
I also don't think this deserves a black comedy label. For me, a black comedy is not just laughing at something unplesant, but laughing directly at that unpleasant action. Francie does some horrible stuff, but says something funny. That's not black comedy. That's throwing a joke into an unplesant scene. If you want black comedy, few movies are better than "Man Bites Dog"
Unfortunately, this movie followed a formula that got repetitive: kid does something bad. Kid says something funny. Something bad happens. optional Kodak moment where kid drops down another level. Wash, rinse, repeat.
6/10 -- original, yes, but in this case, no points for originality.