Amy George

My brother took me to this film at a Brooklyn film festival because the soundtrack features four of his compositions. Nevertheless, about halfway through the film I found myself wondering why in the world I was sitting there watching it. The film tells the story of several days in the life of Jesse, a 13-year-old boy in Toronto. The filmmakers have nothing original to say about this well-worn topic. Several events or statements by characters feel unrealistic but not in an interesting way or for an interesting purpose. For example, numerous comments about sexual orientation and alcohol ring untrue. The biggest example is what Jesse chooses to submit as his assignment in a photography class, a choice with pointless shock value and no apparent connection to his character. The acting is uneven but the cast doesn't have much to work with, given the limitations of the script. The cinematography is beyond bad, full of pointlessly quirky shots that suggest the camera-work of a first-year film student who is just fooling around.

There is something undeniably authentic about Amy George. Considering how well-worn the traditional "coming of age" tale is, and the great expanse of modern indie takes on the theme, perhaps the film's sincerity is it's most remarkable feat. You might not believe every word a character says or every event that happens, but you do believe that this is what adolescence feels like. Amy George strips away the Michael Cera/Jesse Eisenberg glamorization of awkward and instead reminds us of how it actually felt to go to a middle school dance.

There is an undeniable gulf between the film's visuals and its writing; while the cinematography is approached with a mature artistry the dialogue is clunky at times and the story's structure prefers to linger rather than maintain a steady pace. Interestingly, the dissonance does not feel out of sync with the heart of the film. Jesse, the teen-aged protagonist, would seem completely out of place delivering the well-polished lines of Amy George's Hollywood-friendly equivalent. As every shot of the film displays, Jesse's Toronto is a beautiful place, but at thirteen-years-old he doesn't quite know how to express himself, let alone the beauty around him.

Any of the film's flaws are easily forgivable due to how delicately connected they are to Amy George's greatest and most satisfying merits. After all, being a teenager never really felt like Juno or an episode of Glee. We said stupid things, thought we understood more than we did, and for the most part struggled through the moody atmosphere. The power of Amy George is the ability to earnestly look back at that time in our lives without the taint of nostalgia and remember, or perhaps learn for the first time, the lessons those years bring.

I had the good fortune of seeing Amy George at the Brooklyn Film Festival. The film somehow manages to be both an accurate portrayal of Toronto (a city I've had the good fortune to spend time exploring) and teen-hood (a phase of life I had the mixed fortune of experiencing).

It's a beautifully shot film that (unlike many teen-focused films) resists going over the top, relying on the strong performances of their teen leads and strong script.

Overall, Amy George both stayed true to my memories of my time as a teenager, while reminding me of how complicated, difficult and touching that phase of life can be. I was surprised to find a film that achieve both of those goals and recommend Amy George highly.

Not completely awful but really boring. No story, looks like ad lib dialogue, poor casting, filming is terrible, half the time super dark with no reason. It doesn't know where it's going and any direction it chooses, well it doesn't begin. Is this a story about a boy with a fixation on his neighbor, nope, is it a coming of age story, nope, is it a discovery of what it means to be an artist, nope. That sappy piano and ugly music at the end is really over the top, as though they failed throughout and had to somehow try to drive home some emotion. I wish I could find something redeeming but there isn't. It's sort of like high school budget meets every major cliché, but a collection of clichés does not make a film.

This film is right out of the box, carried not only by candidly true-to-type female antagonists but by Yonah's continuity and direction, both assisted considerably by Gabriel's fine acting ability.

Gabriel plays Jesse to a tee and Yonah and certainly the camera crew respond, but more than that Gabriel's obvious discretion, wit and intelligence add spontaneous mastery and authenticity to a pubescent role and character-type too often stylised, distorted and dismissed as such in contemporary cinema.

I left primarily hoping to see a great deal more of this very talented young actor, and on short reflection many more movies like this. The world will be a better place for it.