By today's standards, this would be a decent feature.
It's solid and very engaging. Bateman is solid as is Skerrit. It won't stand out as the best of the 80's as a feature, but it does stand out as a strong lesser offering.
All these kids feel very real.
It's not perfect, of course. Jason Bateman does feel a bit old for the rebellious self centered kid he is playing. But, whatever, yes it isn't perfect, but it gets far more right than it gets wrong. The kids he deals with do feel very real, even the one with obvious moral shortcomings. Obvious as an adult, but kids as convincing kids. And this obvious kid with obvious kid failings pays a very real price, which he certainly as a dumb kid does not deserve.
It's solid and very engaging. Bateman is solid as is Skerrit. It won't stand out as the best of the 80's as a feature, but it does stand out as a strong lesser offering.
All these kids feel very real.
It's not perfect, of course. Jason Bateman does feel a bit old for the rebellious self centered kid he is playing. But, whatever, yes it isn't perfect, but it gets far more right than it gets wrong. The kids he deals with do feel very real, even the one with obvious moral shortcomings. Obvious as an adult, but kids as convincing kids. And this obvious kid with obvious kid failings pays a very real price, which he certainly as a dumb kid does not deserve.