PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

griz-259-175100 A movie entirely about selfishness. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own childish dramas of dysfunctionality that nothing of substance results. It's not "bittersweet" because it's only bitter. If the writers were looking for some kind of Romeo/Juliet analogy it would have to be a version where Romeo force-feeds Juliet the worst kind of painful slow-acting poison before suffering a fit of conscience and killing himself. The only two characters that rise to some semblance of "the top" are the police inspector who is too "Cluseau" to be taken seriously and the pedophile who threatens to break the legs of the boy if he is not truthful with him. A triple-tragic movie where the greatest tragedies are 1) that someone would conceive and write such a story 2) a movie company would consent to it being produced 3) that it would manage to gain a following that thought it was in any way good.There is no good in this story-line. Period. I hope it doesn't ruin the young actors who showed at least a bit of promise.

colinmetcalfe A picture post card perfect movie, unfortunately like a postcard there isn't much room for the message! With me films that are almost there make me more angry than complete turkeys because you're left thinking what a waste. This is the case with TSBFB. The set up is perfect, the photography exceptional- iconic in parts, the characters well drawn with great acting from the two young central characters. The second half fails to deliver though - why? I'm afraid for me it is the script. It thins out and gets a little desperate relying on the young male leads tendency to suffer a narcolepsy attack every time the story gets into difficulty! There is no real climax and I think this was a brave attempt to not follow the formula, but if you haven't got one then you need something else and this film didn't hence my sense of anti-climax.

ajs-10 I remember hearing about this film when it came out, as I recall, it got a pretty good reception. On the strength of this I decided to give it a viewing. It's quite hard to put down in words the feelings that are brought forth by this British made coming of age tale of love and loss. This one can really get to you if you're in the mood for it. I thought it was very good and that the young actors involved were really excellent.Emily and David are teenagers, they both live at a caravan park on the Norfolk (England) coast. They are like brother and sister, inseparable. One day Emily hears that she is going to have to go and live with her father. This changes everything for David, his feelings for her may run deeper than he is prepared to admit. The following day Emily disappears and David is the first one they call on to find out where she is. Of course he denies all knowledge and they focus on Steve, the security guard at the park. Little do they know that David and Emily have hatched a plan to hide her so she doesn't have to go and live with her father. Unfortunately things don't go according to plan and, as time passes, David finds out things about Emily that he wishes he didn't know. I can't tell you what it is as I don't want to spoil it for you.There are some great songs in the soundtrack from the band 'Noah and the Whale', and a nice score by Jack C. Arnold. It's a very well made film with some really nice cinematography. I particularly liked the use of close-ups. As I said earlier, the two young actors involved are truly excellent. Holliday Grainger as Emily is every bit the young teenage tom-boy she portrays and Thomas Turgoose does an excellent job as the love-lorne David. Also, an honourable mention goes to Rafe Spall as Steve.I really liked this film. It has a very measured style that gently takes you along the path of this bittersweet tale. It's unmistakably English and I think it works better for that, playing on your emotions right up until the rather tragic ending. It's not perfect, the pacing seems a little bit off in places and I felt that some of the characters were a little bit too larger than life, but over all, I liked it. So, if you're prepared for a bit of an emotional ride with a couple of great performances in a very well shot film, then I can definitely recommend this one to you.My Score: 7.3/10

Ali Catterall So who was she, the girl you desperately tried to convince yourself was more like the sister you never had? The one who locked you in the toy box of her heart like some dependable old teddy with a glassy stare and a permanently knitted frown, as she parcelled out her favours in front of you? For David (Thomas Turgoose), being that "brotherly" best friend to Emily (Holly Grainger), a girl he's known all his life, just won't cut it anymore. Focusing on adolescent urges turned jealous, possessive and cancerous, The Scouting Book For Boys describes a day-glo dream plummeting into nightmare.As it opens, the teenage pals are depicted at their Norfolk coastal resort leaping between rows of caravan roofs at sunset: a gorgeously photographed shot perfectly encapsulating the giddy rush and risks of youth. For now, everything is ice creams and waterslides, sunshine and sherbet. There's even that Noah and the frickin' Whale hit on the soundtrack, and you can't get sunnier than that. Then things start turning crap: when an unwilling Emily is packed off to live with her divorcée dad, David helps her hide out in a cave on the beach. ('How to hide yourself' being a section in Baden-Powell's near-eponymous handbook.) But Emily's motives for lying low are more complicated than David imagines. And when the truth is uncovered, the film takes a lurching left turn into Hell-by-the-Sea.Director Tom Harper and writer Jack Thorne (Skins) have both dealt with wayward adolescence before, and have proved extremely skilled at getting inside those scheming little brains. If the film's adult characters behave like dangerously overgrown children, the kids think they're grown-ups way before their time. Wearing an expression like a bruised knee, Turgoose continues to build on a diminutive but hugely impressive CV; while Grainger, playing slightly younger than her actual age, and sharing superb chemistry with her co-star, is just brilliant: equal parts girlish, manipulative and naïve. Like its protagonists, this is capricious, nuanced drama; just when you think you've a handle on it, it twists out of reach like a flipping fish. Catch it.