Good but not likable

Rating: 5/10 (31 August 2006)

The trouble with this movie is there's barely a likable character in it. The only one who comes close to being slightly likable is the little girl. I particularly despised the teenager who doesn't speak; in fact I've rarely been irritated by a character so much. With his ghastly swollen face and I'm-so-superior attitude (he's not, he's just a stupid, horrible little teenager) he's enough to make you walk out the movie house. None of the other characters are sympathetic in the slightest, just a bunch of yelling and dysfunctional people. The story is simplistic and while there are some laughs, they're few and far between and come from a dark, bitter source. The ending isn't funny in a conventional sense, it's funny peculiar, and rather excruciating. Of course it's a 'well made' film, but then it's also anti-establishment, anti-American and anti-family. But what would you expect from a modern American independent production?