12 and Holding

12 and Holding Starring: Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho Director: Michael Cuesta Rated R Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Ben Madonick

If you’re a parent and you want to open up tough topics with your teen, this film can help—but you’d better be there. It’s a loss of innocence tale that is brutally honest, terrifyingly true. The issues are huge, the scenes are dramatic…a girl’s first crush—on an adult male…an obese boy who finds the path to health and nearly kills himself and his mother trying to get there…twin boys, one of whom has a major disfigurement and the other who is too perfect not to have something terrible happen. Parents who try, parents who miss on every count. Teens that kill, teens that go to jail; teens that kill and don’t go to jail. Unhappy kids trying to find their way and finding all kinds of trouble in the process. It’s the hidden world of what could be behind the “how was your day” “fine,” “what happened?” “nothing,” conversations parents and their kids have coast to coast every day. And what is so disturbing is that there’s really nothing in this film that couldn’t happen. If you’re looking for a warm-hearted bowl-of-popcorn family movie, this isn’t it. But it is still a family story. 12 And Holding may be the one that gets you on your knees begging, if you get in trouble, please, please, please come to me. No questions asked.

DVD Extras:
Commentary by Michael Cruesta
Deleted scenes