Return to Innocence

I was totally blown away by this movie. I guess mostly because I thought it was going to be another "Oh let's all feel sorry for this poor troubled boy" flick, but damn this thing was much better than that. Some of those scenes were intense. Any movie that can make me squirm in my seat deserves a "thumbs up."

Looking beyond the obvious plot, I found myself caught up in the side story hiding within. The story of this sad little boy's search for love. Something his mother never gave him. When the boy does find someone that truly loves him, their relationship is torn apart, sending the boy back to his familiar loneliness, with added confusion on top of that. This side element alone makes this film terrific.

"Return to Innocence" is a prevailing film about child abuse, seen from the perspective of its main character, Tommy Jackson. The movie has a documentary feel to it, and the story of a misguided kid growing up in a 'boy's home' youth shelter is nothing new, but the performances here make this a little more than just another movie about a troubled childhood. Tommy Jackson (Andrew Martin, 13, in a tremendous role) is placed into New Horizons with other abused and neglected teens. The struggle for Dr. Erskine is finding this boy's innocence hidden underneath his quiet and demoralized exterior. Erskine truly cares for the boys and is openly close to Tommy, but it is this closeness that makes him vulnerable. The fact is made very clear that children can and do lie without realizing the consequences of their falsehood. Erskine gets a first hand look at the power of a false accusation and we the audience get to come along for the ride.

Return to Innocence is not as hard-hitting as it could be, but it's still honest and straightforward. It never strives for cheap sentimentality, either, as it's moments of power seem to draw from real-life itself. Although the ending is rather open-ended, leaving you wondering if the implication is positive or negative, the director's message is absoultely present, and it personally set up a 45-minute conversation among the group of people I watched the movie with.

Rocky's effort is plausible. But the use of video in too-brightly lit scenes flattens the experience. When the story gets darker, things just get better. The storytelling becomes gripping once the trouble really starts. The scenes of the trial are superb, very flat-old style, but i still think that B&W should be shot on film. The depth of most scenes is so deep, that you instantly come to think of tv, something I just didn't expect in a film. Alas, there's a huge difference in budget if you shoot on video with a full HD equipment, as this is the case.

The story is definitely a very difficult subject to portray without morally judging each and every character. But the way Rocky and the writer did it for the screenplay is rather superb. This is something to really talk about with kids around that age.

Maybe the topic of age of consent is one of the most complex things in our society to talk about. And I think it's quite absurd to legislate on it. Consent depends on the individual's maturity, background and beliefs. But I'm most sure that consent depends really on just one thing: freedom. The decision capability of an individual to act in a way he or she considers helpful, good or whatever positive adjective you can put on that behaviour. Usually, the real consent in whatever conduct the society claims as criminal, is, alas, love! Two thumbs up for this work. Technically film was a better option for dramatic expression.

When did movies go from great stories involving humanity to incredibly lame computer-generated images? I was so pleased to find this gem as a return to the movies of old. Beautiful performances and robust story line. One that has stayed with me since I watched it 2 days ago. I can only hope the big boys take note that some of us enjoy the simpler things in life.