Tockinit not horrible nor great

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

cavs-85057 It's obvious that the makers of this documentary wanted to paint a certain picture while making this movie. Small, fragile gay boy got shot at school by a classmate simply because he was gay. Makes you wanna pull out the tissues right now, eh? Look, not saying it's not sad, the whole story IS sad. However, the filmmakers could have relied on actual facts while presenting this story other than going off on the "hate crime" rant. Brandon didn't shoot Larry because he was gay. Brandon (who had just turned 14 at the time) shot Larry (age 15) because Larry was sexually harassing him....sexually harassing a 14 yr old boy who was in JR HIGH.....sexually harassing him in front of his guy friends....spreading rumors that him and Brandon were dating secretly. NO, I do NOT think Larry should have died, that Brandon was in the right to kill him. What I am saying is that the film only wants to focus on the subject of being gay and tries to push the idea that Brandon shot Larry just because the kid was gay. It's more complex than that. Ever notice how the filmmakers never use any pics of Larry dressed as a girl? They only show pics of him as a very young child and not the 15 yr old boy he was at the time he was shot. Why is that?? It's because if the viewers only see photos of Larry as a very young child then it makes them automatically think Brandon shot that sweet little seven year old face. I google searched for pics, there are pics out there of Larry dressed as a girl....looking much older than the younger pics the filmmakers used. This is one red flag that tells you what the filmmakers' agenda is.One 14 yr old troubled boy from an abusive home shot and killed a troubled 15 yr old boy from an abusive home. Sad. I blame the school.....if there was a strict uniform dress code then it should have been fully enforced. My understanding is that the teacher who whined about being fired was actually fired because she broke protocol when she gave Larry the dress. Yeah, sure it was just a dress....a harmless dress....but this is a teacher who has the responsibility of following the rules and enforcing the IEP put in place by the school....she shouldn't have given him the dress (not on school grounds anyway), the school should have done more about the situation, and Brandon should not have resorted to violence. Larry is gone, Brandon's life is ruined. It's sad.

SnoopyStyle On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, grade 8 student bully Brandon McInerney shots his effeminate classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head in class and then just walks away. Brandon is caught a couple of blocks away. He is supposedly the good one according to his family and friends. Larry King is overtly flamboyantly gay and even declares publicly that Brandon is his Valentine. This documentary examines the troubled abused lives of both boys.This is a more in-depth examination of a passing story in the headlines. It shows that the story behind the story. The documentary seems to be trying to rehabilitate Brandon and then the prosecutor shows his fights in detention. The movie takes a turn into white supremacist area and the tension ends for me. It's kind of a drop-the-mike moment. At that point, there is really nothing to learn from Brandon. I would have argued for Brandon to be interviewed for the documentary but quite frankly, I don't see the point after the neo-nazi stuff. Maybe he'll reform in prison but it's hard to see that happening.

John Rohan This documentary was awfully slow. Many of the interviews are simply irrelevant, children rambling on and on about one or other of the boys. Other interviews seem edited to making certain Brandon supporters look stupid, and the prosecutors beyond question. For example, it doesn't bother exploring the reasons why Brandon was tried as an adult, which probably led to the first mistrial. The prosecutors show video of Brandon fighting while in juvenile detention, but if you Google the incident, guards at the facility said he was actually very well behaved and the incident was not serious. It looks for answers for this senseless tragedy. It gives the full background on the dysfunctional childhood of both boys, and makes a strong case to tie the killing to homophobia and racism, although the real life evidence of that wasn't quite so strong. Due to the sheer numbers of interviews however, the film is very useful to anyone exploring this incident. Overall, it gets a passing grade, but just barely.

grome On February 12th 2008, in Oxnard California, a 14 year-old student Brandon brought a school to gun and shot his classmate Larry from point blank range in the back of his head while we was working on a computer in class. The day before Larry, who had a crush on Brandon, had asked him to be his Valentine in front of his friends embarrassing him. In the weeks leading up to the incident, Larry had begun to wearing makeup and accessorising, and had come out to friends.The documentary, Valentine Road, slowly unpacks the incident through interviews with the community. There are endless perspectives here, from Larry's friends at school - including Marina, a classmate who came out to her Mum when she was picked up after the shooting; the defense lawyers, who were so moved by the case that they decided to represent Brandon pro bono; the foster parents who used to look after Larry; the Jurors who joined the 'Save Brandon' cause after the trial was declared a mistrial. The only voice that was really missing from the film was Larry's.The remarkable journey that this film took was an emotional roller coaster. The film fluctuated between taking the audience to incredibly sad places, emphasising the life that was lost. But the real sadness is the embedded homophobia that still exists in the community. Some of the perspectives are hard to listen to. There were times that I felt so much anger towards the people that were expressing their intolerance and this failure to understand that people are different which only breeds Brandon's who believe they have no choice but to use violence. There's also the incredible joy of seeing hope through the people that had learned from this incident and learned to stand up for what is right.Not blaming Brandon was one of the incredible feats of the film. Instead the film kept at a distance, remaining objective. It was clear at times where the film was leveling its critique: the scene in which a bunch of jurors hang out discussing the case is long, as the statements they make about the case becoming increasingly stupid, naive and upsetting. This is so topical and so relevant. It must be seen and people must talk about this. For me, the most striking thing was the dominance of the intolerance. When intolerance makes up the hegemonic viewpoint bad things happen. I hope that Oxnard can, at some point, learn from this.