penwah2

This film traces a boy's life over the course of 12 years, and was actually shot over that same time, so the actors are the same, and you see the kids grow up and all lives evolve. It was so natural and well acted, so based in reality, that you forget it's a movie and you think you are a friend or neighbor watching a home movie about people you know.If you are looking for drama or a plot or action or impactful ending, this is not your film. Some will find it boring, but if you approach it with no expectations except to get to know the characters, you will see people you know, even in your own family. It is heartening to see that every family has issues and challenges, even the ones who look perfect from the outside, and that even the good kids go through stuff and can be okay in the end. Bravo.

The premise of this film interested me, as I met my share of posers on the Internet when I first got online. Frankly, I didn't expect much more than your run of the mill Investigative Discovery segment, so I was busy doing other things online when the film started. I was not prepared to be immediately sucked in by its intensity. The very first comments by the narrator engaged me completely. The use of soft, tender music instead of the usual suspenseful choices in a crime presentation lulls the viewer right into the relationship between Jessi and Tommy and keeps you there. It beautifully augments the slowly rolling instant messages that draw the development of the relationship. The rhythm of the two together tinted the exchanges with a reflective eeriness that gives the viewer enough time to read, absorb and experience the eeriness of the whole situation. And the discovery at the end just blew my mind. A thoughtful and disturbing film that leaves you breathless and thinking.

We two 50+ grandmas went to see this film on the spur of the moment because we enjoy musical movies. We were probably the oldest people in the audience which ranged down to younger teens but everyone, regardless of age, was laughing and having a grand time. Much less schmaltzy and self-serious than Glee, but wonderful vocals and dancing and personality. You can't help but fall in love with the hilariously quirky characters, especially Rebel Wilson as the irrepressible Fat Amy, Elizabeth Banks as Gail, the sexually frustrated female announcer, and Hanna Mae Lee as Lilly, the wackadoo who releases the most shocking comments in a voice that barely exceeds a murmur. Fun, feel-good and highly entertaining.