User reviews

I think the premise of this film is very intriguing, but I think the execution was flawed. The actors were all very well cast and played their roles brilliantly, but I think the script was a bit shoddy in some places and could have benefited from being longer and fleshing out the characters a bit more- the potential was there but the back stories weren't fully utilized. The story could have done with more development as well- it felt a tad rushed in places.

That being said, I think this film is (sadly) very relevant to the world today. It has an important message that needs to be heard, and so far this is one of the only (if not the only) films that touches on this subject matter. It deserves a wider audience because it really does have a lot to say.

I think the film was well cast, with Norman Reedus and Garret Backstrom giving great performances. They really make you care about their characters, which from the premise of the film clearly isn't the easiest thing to do, but that is really the whole point. The script and the direction could have been better, but overall the film succeeds in doing what it set out to do- make you think.

The premise of this movie could have made for a good story but the infantile development by the director was not only bias...something a real crime of this nature should certainly not need...but made you feel as if you were watching a bad soap opera. The b rate actors, excluding the reporter and the young criminal, bring a new low to movies. It would have been easier to watch an hour of the stupid video game they kept showing. Rob Estes was so bad that I actually hope I never, ever have to endure him on the screen again. If you are going to bash Fox...and I am not saying you shouldn't...make sure you at least appear smarter. Terrible direction and lousy actors shred any hope of the premise rising to any fruitful work.

I am speechless. The film was extremely powerful and touched me right to my core. After watching this film it reminds me of how important it is that we respect and are kind to the people in our lives no matter what role they play in it. I felt very moved and an intense sense of gratitude towards life after this movie. It really makes you assess what is important in life and opens your awareness to what can happen when you forget how precious life is. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see some phenomenal acting with an amazing story line.

Cheers, Christian

Truth be known- I've only watched this because of Norman Reedus. And because of him it's a 2 star, otherwise zero. I'm so sorry to be so disappointed about this movie. I understand that there must be so much good intentions behind it and it's a big story...but. But what in all saints name were they thinking??? Most people already wrote all you need to know about this movie so I'm not going to repeat that. Just...if you are really still set to watch this movie, then just focus on Reeduses blue eyes and try not to notice everything else. And if your intelligence gets insulted few times...and if basic components that should be holding story together are falling apart...just, you know, thank god they've had decent stylist who blended outfits perfectly with the light ratio. Great job there!

The chemistry between the two leads (Reedus and Backstrom) was outstanding. They definitely played off each other and it worked. I also found Herman's mother's (Michelle Danner) monologue to be quite convincing and moving. The great acting is to be expected when a prestigious acting teacher is the director. I think this film is rather important for parents and teachers to see. I can see Danner being persuaded by many others to not make this movie since the subject matter is so controversial. Obviously in the movie, Herman gets bullied to an extent that he plots for revenge and lashes out on his fellow students through murder. This movie reminds us of how an innocent child can transform into a heartless killing machine through the abuse and bullying a child endures. Herman states to Lax that he is human. Everybody needs to be reminded that everybody in this world is human and we all have feelings we go through.

Normally I wouldn't review a movie that I couldn't finish, but I can't let the shill reviews stand. This is a bad movie: badly written, badly acted, and contrived in every element. The quality is lower than a soap opera, the tone is more juvenile than a children's movie, the propaganda is more shameless than North Korean TV. When a movie is so slanted that it makes you question its unfair treatment of child killers and Neo-Nazis something has gone terribly wrong. The subject of school shooters has been handled better in several movies, and this adds nothing, a movie for idiots by idiots. I almost hope that this is some sick satire, it would help me sleep at night knowing that there aren't such demented morons out there, though that wouldn't really change my rating, because then it would just be a very bad joke.

This is a movie that seems to have tried to be many things and falls short in most of it's objectives. The plot seems ripe for an after school movie of the week but the language is quite adult at times. The focus of the movie seems to wander at times, it feels at times the movie is told all in flashbacks and news reports. It also doesn't help that much of the acting is way over the top to near comedic heights next to Reedus' far more understated performance. Technically, the movie is shot well but most of the crew appear to be mailing it in on this one.

One would be far better served seeking out Bully http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682181/ or Elephant http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363589/

This a truly haunting film. Norman Reedus as an online journalist is understated and thoughtful. Garett Buckstrom as the teenager killer is oddly compelling. It's a powerful subject, hypnotically rendered. And I found myself thinking about my own high school bully. Halfway through the film, my wife asked me, "Are kids that mean? The answer, alas, is yes. And the film shows the ways technology---Facebook and the like---renders cruelty both easier to commit and more harmful The killings in the film are rendered in freeze frame so that we see the horror on the victims' faces, but nothing else. There's plenty of gore, though, in the video games that obsess the teenage killer who commits the massacre. The film is part of the "Hello Herman Project" to create dialogue about school bullying. This compelling film is an excellent tool to get the conversation started between parents and children. Well worth watching.

Please do yourself a favor and watch something else.Anything else. This movie. Man, just when I didn't think the film could get any worse it did. I'm not sure who I should blame first. The director or the screenwriter. I think that the director takes the cake ( by that I mean the blame) for this movie. Mostly because of the horrible acting. Did anyone else see the crazy blonde lady that looked like she walked off SNL? How does a director let something like that happen? and the two lead men? Man did they try. Oh they tried to give us something. But Garret looked like a Disney kid who got lost. Another painful to watch performance came from the director herself staring as none other than boys mother. I think that out of the whole film only two people gave worth while performances. One was the female police offer who had two minutes of screen time and the beautiful Latina lead. They truly did a really good job when you look at the film as a whole. If only they hadn't been apart of this. The film lacked all vision. Nowhere at anytime could I see what they hell the filmmakers where trying to do. I wish that a film on this subject would have gone farther. Gave us something to really think about. But instead it gave us corny character names and cringe worth dialogue. The editing on this film was so amateurish I thought that I was watching the work of a film school drop out. The editor clearly was trying to use Lee Smith's tricks ( Lee Smith editor for many of Christopher Nolan's films) for flash backs and quick cuts. Not a single time was it done properly. Thank god Norman had the walking dead to go back to after this train wreck of a film. Over all the film is completely half baked.

I am such a Norman Reedus fan, so I was very excited to see that he was in a new movie this summer. I may have initially watched Hello Herman out of loyalty to Reedus, but I took away much more than just an increased respect for Reedus as an actor. Michelle Danner blew me away with her exceptional directing that gives us a stark look at the dangers of remaining inactive at quelling violence within our schools and our households. Danner, a renowned Los Angeles acting coach, set out to make this film with endorsements from top Hollywood producers, like Steven Spielberg. From the very beginning it throws you right into the chaos of a town torn apart by the school shootings of a student embittered by perpetual abuse from bullies and personal trauma from home. The film really captures the pain and grief that effects everyone within a town that endures such tragedies. This film will most likely go down as one of the most important and relevant films of 2013