Another minority report, since I can’t get on the bandwagon for this indie fave. Maybe I’m not the target audience, and for those forced to watch typical teen fare this may seem markedly real and nuanced. To me Jacob Estes’s first feature seems obvious and deriviative -- out of Lord of the Flies, River’s Edge, Stand by Me, and Bully for starters -- but with some sophistication of mood and character, and a believable manner with young actors. A group of Oregon teens invite a fat, loathsome (but funny and sensitive inside!) bully on a boat trip, to set up a retaliatory prank. Some have second thoughts when they get to know him a little, but of course things go horribly wrong and the assorted youths have to deal with the consequences. I was on board with the mood-setting and establishment of the characters, but when the plot gears began to grind, I went over the side and eventually my interest went under. Glug, glug. (2004, dvd, n.) *5+* (MC-74, RT-89.)
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