Rockaway

Sadly, most of the 9 and 10 reviews here appear to be fakes or "shills."

Here's the honest truth about Rockaway. It plays like a high school production. Of course we all love a good coming of age film, but this one has so many issues, you can't settle in and get lost in it. The acting is bumpy across all characters, particularly the boys who could have performed much better with skilled direction. Overacting and poor delivery are rampant throughout.

To compound the problem, the script itself is problematic, derivative, and often as awkward as the performances of the cast. There is an earnest attempt to infuse the film with the east coast Italian flavor of the locale, but it fails miserably.

Perhaps much of this could be forgiven, but the plot itself is terminally flawed, especially at the end. It just feels forced and lacks the very honesty the movie wants its viewers to connect with.

Lastly, not enough care was taken to ensure 90s scenes contained believable 90s backgrounds and artifacts (sloppy movie making).