14plus: FEATURE FILMS
Director: Matthew Gordon
USA 2010 / 73 minutes
with: William Ruffin, John Alex Nunnery, Patrick Rutherford
Languages: English
“Dear Mr. Curtis. Lucas has come home and now we’re only one short. What will I say when mom comes home? D’you think I should be madder than hell at her? I should yell and ask her why she left again? I’m not gonna say a word.”
This summer, Robbie has to write an essay. If he does a good job, his teacher is willing to forget that he broke into some lockers. It can be on any subject. So he decides to write a let- ter about everything he usually works out by himself. Such as wanting to be a role model to Fess, his little brother. And about Lucas, his elder brother, who prefers to let Robbie slave away at the gas station instead of taking responsibility himself. And about his dream of a happy family life that is slipping ever further away as the summer goes on.
The way the film is build up is very impressive, it is almost like an investigation on how boys in a family interact. The three boys behave very differently towards each other - and to others because of each other. Since there is nobody to take proper care of them, they have to take care of them selves and each other which results in quite a strange lifestyle, but it seems to work. During the film, out main protagonist Robert develops quite a lot, he grows mentally and physically, and as the film develops becomes more and more sure of him self and what he wants out of life and actually can get. This results in a changed relationship with his two brothers, but as one love is lost, another is gained.