Nobody onscreen seems to realize that this deadeningly self-serious treatment of family dysfunction is so overwrought that it becomes a spot-on satire of low-budget ineptitude.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Chicago Reader by Andrea Gronvall
"Soppy" doesn't begin to describe this 2004 drama by Quentin Lee.
San Francisco Chronicle by John McMurtrie
Desperately wants to deal dramatically with the legitimate issues of homosexuality, tolerance, homelessness and drug use. But to do so, the movie, like Ethan, would first need to grow up.
Lee obviously wants to portray Ethan as something other than the dutiful No. 1 son, but Ethan isn't entirely convincing as a doped-up street hustler.
Provocative and poignant.
Messy admixtures of drama and mockery crucially undermine pic's serious message.
Without contrivances, the movie would only run about five minutes.
The one highlight is Julia Nickson, who breathes life into the role of Ethan's evil stepmom.