I must say, I do not consider myself a drama fan. If it's up to me, I prefer watching an action or a comedy rather than a drama film. This one wasn't different, I got bored, turned on the TV -- only this time, I simply got hooked.
This movie really provides drama the best way there could possibly be. There's nothing too brilliant nor original about it, nevertheless, the good acting and the realistic script is what makes it so good.
Rick Schroder as Danny Evetts, the lead character, is doing a great job. He basically fills his role as the young, rebellious & emotionally mixed son of a divorced couple, played by Mary Kay Place & Richard Jenkins (Which are, by the way, familiar faces, although I can not really recall which movies they took part in), which play their roles just as good.
Danny is upset because of his family's situation. His father is getting remarried, his mother has a 'boyfriend' (which lives with his mom, himself and his sister), and Danny is just feeling left out. He and his dad have a special relationship, as friends do (or so he would like to think), therefore he blames everything on his mother, which is having a hard time dealing with him, and prefers to lean more on her new life partner. Obviously Danny can not stand his mother's behavior (even though he acts as if he does not need her), one thing leads to another, and because of his behavior (Drugs use, alcohol, violence) Danny ends up in a special institute, for teenagers whose parents decided to give them away for a sort of a therapy. Danny can not stand the institute.. and for the rest, you'll just have to watch it yourself.
Perhaps this film touched me so much because I am about at Danny's age (even though I don't have any of his problems, hehe), but I still think it delivers an interesting, touching and realistic story, played out wonderfully. I guess this is just one of those low budget STVs (STV > Straight To Video, this movie was not shown in theaters) that outperform many theater movies, which I was wondering if whether they were a myth or not.
I give it a perfect 10/10, it is an excellent drama, which gives the viewer exactly what he looks for in this genre.
