Born & Raised

A poignant story about the desire to expand one's horizons and the dangers of drifting away into emptiness and loneliness. The film centers on young Bubbs (Writer Nick Loritsch) wants to leave Panama City, Florida and travel the world like his grandfather who is despised by all in the town for the grief he has caused Bubbs' mother. The film features gorgeous photography of the Floridian Coast accompanied by a soundtrack featuring country music by Jay Vincent. The film's central focus and probably greatest asset is a tremendous performance by Jackson Pyle as Frank, Bubbs' free-spirited grandfather. Pyle carries himself with a strong sense of gravity, but always pokes in a little joviality when one least expects it, giving an otherwise weighty story some levity. The rest of the cast provides strong support, but it is Pyle who carries the film on his shoulders throughout.

(2012) Born & Raised DRAMA

Straight-to-DVD which if you take out some of the cussing, then it would've been nothing more than a made for TV movie. Kind of a simple minded story line that's written by the lead actor himself by the name of Nick Loritsch. He plays Bubbs, who's employed as a boat mechanic of a small town. And just when he's starting to be comfortable with the small town he grew up in, his long time girlfriend breaks up with him so that she can live with a guy some place else. Because Bubbs doesn't have his own place, he also lives with his single parent mom who scolds him constantly whenever she thinks he's hanging around with his estranged dad who used to abandoned Bubb's mom when she was little. His name is Frank, played by Jackson Pyle and all he does is drink beer, pissing people off while hanging around on his boat. It then shifts to a rift between Bubbs and his best friend, Kenny (Keith Hudson), since he's starting to fall in love with his little sister. All I can say is that it's very routine stuff that's been done better, such as "The Last Picture Show", another movie about a small town. What doesn't seem to be addressed here is whether or not Bubbs pays any rent at all, since his mom is also employed as well. We also don't get to see how Bubbs is doing financially, for the movie gives viewers the impression that Bubbs spends much of his money drinking in bars and so forth. I mean, sometimes even if he's paying his mom rent, he should also be saving a lot of money too, since parents usually help their children.

I had the fortune of watching this film at the Miami International Film Festival. I must give the film its credit. The story is well written. Nick Loritsch who also has the leading role does an excellent job of carrying the story well. Jackson Pyle who plays Nick's grandfather and Arlan Godthaab do a great job keeping the back story alive. Dawntavia Bullard, Keith Hudson along with Nick Loritsch brings this story to reality for many living in the culturally rich gulf region in the USA. I tip my hat to an excellent job the cast and crew of the Born & Raised production team. Good luck with your festivals, and I hope to catch the show again via broadcast, cable or stream. I will surely tell my friends not to miss this feel good film. It will leave you talking about it for days.

Few films evoke true emotion from the audience. This surely one does. The viewer realizes that not all Americans have the same life opportunities due to the accident of birth into families of all types and socio-economic standings. The scenery and locales that the viewer experiences are true rural Florida. This film develops the specific characters to an extent that the personalities and spoken lines will resonate as one engages in his own life and among one's own world of real life characters. Viewers cringe as the characters live their lives and inflict their antics on each other. There are the rogues, the hussies and the innocent locals who can't see life's bigger picture.

A little gem to see.

What was that? An afterschool special? This is what happens when a kid with experience writes a movie and somehow, inconceibably, it gets turned into a movie. This film is one cliche after another, where everything of course eventually turns out fine and everyone learns the proper lessons. The lead character, also the writer, is constantly mugging for the camera. A v ery annoying smirkThe music is a drag. A few periphereal characters were interesting, such as the old guy at the bar and the chili dog eater, although the latter is a bit over the top. His mother is an atrocious actress. Coudln't even hack it in a soap. Oh, and people just don't up and give away their boat/home. Ridiculous. It's all just so pretentious nonsense. It's sappy, mundane, trivial, and a very by the numbers effort. Somehow I made it to the predictable end. And where the heck did these people have tne money to live as they did? Total disconnect. An overflowing pail of slop nothing more.