Your kids should see this from the end backwards

Rating: 10/10 (24 August 2007)

Johnny Depp is superior and Penelope Cruz is gorgeous!!! But it's hard to believe that Yung was always the victim in these deals. If he's not being betrayed by his 'friends', he's being betrayed by his mother. It's hard to think that he was such a wonderful person, albeit selling life-destroying cocaine. The last scene will indeed break your heart, especially followed by the REAL Yung's face behind the credits.
Weymouth is a great town, and the fear of the mother of the community's disapproval is quite real: obviously not white trash, but lower-middle class working people. The father's lines as he surveys his son's mansion and sports cars are right on: "I don't think much of what you do, but I love you and we all have our own path to follow." The boy's love for his father, despite and because of his mother's frequent defections is well portrayed to almost the end.
2015 is just up the road, and I'll be interested in hearing Yung's thoughts on his future. The movie, by the way, says nothing about his football hero status. I find the appearance of the 60s and 70s quite true to form, since I was growing up then amidst that drug scene where the kids were dropping like flies from overdoses. And now it's crystal meth. Someday we'll see a movie that shows WHY cocaine is worth throwing your life away: what does it make you feel? As his family falls apart, it's amazing that he doesn't 'get it'. He's still living off his drug money until it's taken away from him.
Please check this one out. It is WELL worth your time for the movie itself AND the message!!!!