I liked this movie, but then again - I like all movies were a 13 y/o boy plays the lead, especially when the movie deal with homosexuality. So, I had high expectations when I started to watch this movie. Unfortunately, there turned out to be a great many things not as one would expect. I think I might have been put on the wrong foot by the IMDb plot summary: this is NOT a coming of age story. In a forum comment I had read that Gil, the 13 y/o boy, is gay-- but also that aspect isn't really worked out in any way. In the movie, at one point, Gil says "I am gay", light heartedly, as if it's the most normal thing on Earth. He does not have ANY problems with it, it seems. The reason he gives to think that he is gay is because he likes "pretty things", but when Jan asks him if he is attracted to other boys, Gil answers "I don't know," as if he had not given THAT aspect much thought yet. Basically, Gil is behaving like a VERY young child at times (especially in the pool scenes with Jan), more like 7 or 8 years old.
All in all, this makes the movie a rather unrealistic story. A 13-year-old boy who thinks he is gay either denies that, or at least has huge troubles with it, OR he already passed the point of accepting that he is sexually attracted to other boys, which would indicate a very MATURE boy-- with a mental age of closer to 18 instead of 7.
The above mentioned scene is all we get to see about this "coming of age" thing that the movie supposedly would be (so it is not). Gil is not struggling with sexual feelings at all. He is undoubtedly feminine, like the stereo-type gay hair-dresser type, and likes to fantasize about being a female actress, dress up in a dress, or put on make-up. Right. Although without doubt there are gay boys who like that, the number of movies where a gay boy is feminine by FAR exceeds the percentage of feminine gay boys in reality. I had hoped to finally see a movie with a gay boy who is, and acts, like a boy: boyish. But who nevertheless is attracted to some other boy. It is that ATTRACTION that starts the whole thing of confusion, that no sooner than after years of struggling ends with acceptation. This movie has little to do with reality therefore. This is not the typical young gay coming-of-age teen as they exist everywhere in this world. A disappointment thus.
I still give the movie a 7 -- because well,... Gil is cute, the topic is still my kind of topic, and that has to be rewarded somehow.
All in all, this makes the movie a rather unrealistic story. A 13-year-old boy who thinks he is gay either denies that, or at least has huge troubles with it, OR he already passed the point of accepting that he is sexually attracted to other boys, which would indicate a very MATURE boy-- with a mental age of closer to 18 instead of 7.
The above mentioned scene is all we get to see about this "coming of age" thing that the movie supposedly would be (so it is not). Gil is not struggling with sexual feelings at all. He is undoubtedly feminine, like the stereo-type gay hair-dresser type, and likes to fantasize about being a female actress, dress up in a dress, or put on make-up. Right. Although without doubt there are gay boys who like that, the number of movies where a gay boy is feminine by FAR exceeds the percentage of feminine gay boys in reality. I had hoped to finally see a movie with a gay boy who is, and acts, like a boy: boyish. But who nevertheless is attracted to some other boy. It is that ATTRACTION that starts the whole thing of confusion, that no sooner than after years of struggling ends with acceptation. This movie has little to do with reality therefore. This is not the typical young gay coming-of-age teen as they exist everywhere in this world. A disappointment thus.
I still give the movie a 7 -- because well,... Gil is cute, the topic is still my kind of topic, and that has to be rewarded somehow.