Yo, adolescente

I just watched this, so am still processing thoughts here...but this was an interesting if messy, disturbing ride.

The main character is dealing with the suicide of his friend (lover?), and stumbles through being a teenager like most teenagers do. The lead often treats his friends and family like dirt, drinks too much, does lots of drugs and acts like a self-centered, confused jackass. In other words...he's an honest portrayal of many teenagers.

To an adult mind, lots of things don't make sense. But that's the point: lots (most) things that teenagers do often don't make sense. It's the rare 16-year-old that has the emotional maturity and deft communication skills to clearly explain what they're thinking or going through. Most teenagers are "a mass of conflicting impulses" as someone once said.

The writing and acting may strike you as messy and rough. But it may also strike you as raw and honest. In the end, it's trying to tell you to make the effort to talk to kids who look like they're struggling...before it's too late.

As an Argentinian myself, I can't help but think that this movie is actually a really good representation of what being a teenager in 2005 was like. If you don't have a grasp of the culture, most of the little details get lost.

It's a great movie overall. Zabo is not a likeable character, and I think that's the point. He's reckless, he usually makes bad decisions, he played with a lot of people in his journey, among other things. He's flawed, just like all of us are. The fact that he is written to be a "normal teenager" is an extremely important aspect in the suicide prevention ad they're trying to make. It tries to portray that even a normal teenager, a person that loves and has things to do can even make that decision. The things he went through don't justify the way he acted throughout the movie, but it explains why he chose that path in the end.

I find a lot of these other reviews unfair. While I'm not in love with the heavy handed ending, I did really enjoy this movie. A large part of that is down to the considerable charm of the lead actor Renato Quattordio. The characters are largely believable and the action keeps moving, though I think a lot of other reviewers lose sight of the fact that this is set in 2005 and they might not get all the cultural references or things may seem anachronistic. I'd love to see more from this director.

This was a good movie but I gave it a low rating because I didn't agree with its message, considering it's based on a true story.

You can relate a lot to the main character, and the life of a teenager is well pictured more peolple should watch it, especially the last scene