The Wise Kids

An unassuming no-budget film (there's a long list of Kickstarter contributors in the credits) that has its heart in the right place, even if production values are a bit shaky. Writer/director Stephen Cone doesn't have much of a flair for natural-sounding dialogue, though I was impressed that he gives his most effective speeches to one teenage character (Laura, beautifully played by Allison Torrem) who's not having a crisis of conscience and who stoutly defends the values of the conservative Baptist community she was born into; in two of the more engaging scenes, she explains why she finds female preachers "kind of creepy" (cf. 1 Cor. 13:34, 35) and, later on, pleads with her BFF not to lose her faith because "I totally want to be with you in Heaven."

The more conventional coming-of-age crises of the other main characters didn't seem as compelling, though the performances are perfectly fine; the closeted drama coach's moment of what used to be called homosexual panic is certainly one that any viewer with functioning gaydar will have seen coming from a long way down the road. I agree with other viewers that the film seems to be heavily padded with random atmospherics and drawn-out reaction shots that don't do much to advance the plot; the best line in the script is a barely audible throwaway—a cast member in a Nativity play gets off a wisecrack to the effect of "That's why you'll always be a shepherd and never a Wise Man."