Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

OJT Maybe I was expecting too much, but "Straight A's" is a low budget film with several problems. The plot is OK, but technically this film is quite amateurish. The acting is not top notch either, and Ryan Philippe's worst film so far. Besides that this is a film filled with really disgusting men, which all sweets up in the end.I immediately reacted to the bad opening family film-music, the childish writing and then the staged opening with the cowboy riding in from the sun in slow motion. Then the meeting with the strange kids rather bad monologue when he is talking in a narrative setting. Then I reacted equally negative to the voices which seemed so artificial that I thought it was put on after-wards, after being read in a studio. Then I thought th cutting was amateurish. What a bad start! After 10 minutes I reacted negatively to the music, and then the supposedly cute kids, which are acting forced.But some way along the little boy Charles is really starting to charm up. He's really doing his best, showing some talent when the film has passed the hour.The plot is not bad, but everything in it is quite badly executed. Director James Cox is not up to it, and the writing by David Cle is also under average. You won't be sorry if you leave this on the shelf, or stop watching after the first minutes.

dumasbj Although it is classified as a "comedy" there is absolutely nothing funny in this movie. That being said, I enjoyed every minute of it. Ryan Phillipe is really good in this movie and so is the kid. The rest of the characters are somewhat irrelevant in my opinion. Without giving too much away, the ending where they're just sitting the two are sitting enjoying eachtohers company reminds me of my wife and I and really was a great moment. I recommend this movie to everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched this film on netflix and to be honest I am kind of used to watching crappy movies on there but today was definitely a pleasant surprise.

luvdogsncats The language is disgusting by the loser uncle. Movie is slow, rather boring. But then again I am assuming its from the south and things are slow in the south I lived there for two years.Do not understand why our society has gone so down hill in class and respect for others when they are spoken to.It would be a difficult movie to mix two different types of classes together.And thanks I agree even on Wikipedia they ruined Under The Dome by telling what will happen.When two worlds and cultures collide would have been a great title.

aGuiltySoul I rather enjoyed this film. It's too bad it seems to have been given a half hearted production. The film has so much going for it, but seems to have stopped short of what it would have taken to really make a go of it, namely, cohesion and a really good edit. There were some problems with continuity too. Was Scott gone 9 or 10 years because both were mentioned and it turns out to matter. Mr. Phillippe's Scott seemed to also have had a tattoo that came and went. It's those little things that show a lack of attention that reflect a failure of…what? Talent? Devotion? Funding? I don't know. But the end product is unpolished. In fact it plays better as a series of scenes than as one film. It tells the story of one family, William(Luke Wilson), his wife Katherine(Anna Paquin), and their two young children. The marriage is struggling. They have all the trappings of wealth and status but William is constantly away on business and Katherine is becoming robotic and cold, just going through the motions. The children are responding with eccentric behavior. Charles, for instance, wears a suit and carries a brief case to elementary school. There is also William's father(Powers Boothe) living nearby who has succumbed to Alzheimer's. But most importantly for this film, there is William's brother, Scott(Ryan Phillippe), who has been missing for some years but shows up one afternoon riding a horse onto the property. This film is classified as a comedy and it is funny, but in the old fashioned comedic method of amusing circumstances rather than manic behavior or convoluted plots. The comedic circumstances all center around the character of the prodigal brother, Scott. He is definitely the cuckoo in the nest of this buttoned down family. He drinks too much, smokes pot and has very little censor. He is utterly charming man, but immature and often inappropriate, especially in his vocabulary. He soon wins over the children and has Katherine struggling with feelings she once had for him. Scott has returned home at the request, he insists, of his dead mother who tells him he is needed. And except for total lack of conformity and his habit of lighting up a joint and/or a cigarette constantly as well as trying to drink the drink cabinet dry, he's not a bad house guest. However that's not how Katherine sees it, he's rather more spontaneous than she can tolerate. Yet we see that people are like moths to his flame, and Katherine is no more immune than her children. I found the acting really well done, not surprising given the cast, but the supporting cast doesn't lag behind either. (How they managed to cast a little girl who looks so much like she could be Anna Paquin's daughter I don't know.) The musical score added much to the atmosphere. I'm a big fan of well done musical scores. I've mentioned this is funny; I laughed out loud several times while watching it. I enjoyed this film. It's been a long time since I saw Ryan Phillippe act with child actors and I want to point out that he does it singularly well. Overall his portrayal of Scott drives the whole film. But I'd have liked this effort to be more than a direct to video pass off. It seems a betrayal of all the work and talent that went into it. And last but not least the ending is a really hackneyed cliché. Hate that.