Flutter

I really thought I would like this movie, but I didn't. The mother and son characters are very unlikable. Each had his own challenges and I kept waiting for them to start to overcome them. Lordy. Painful to watch a terrible, lazy, inept mother raise a completely thoughtless, undisciplined son. Just because you're poor doesn't have to mean you're filthy and stupid. Where was this mother's effort to earn money in a meaningful way. Or to raise a child in a happy but at least minimally structured way? Utter fail. Very little redeeming values to the characters. I thought this was supposed to be about a strong mother? Don't bother with this one. It will leave you frustrated.

Unlike other biased reviews from privileged women who have choices in life and chose wrong and are bitter, this review is about the movie.

This movie is shown from more than one view.

It's about a boy living with an illness in poverty living like all is normal like a child his age does.

It's about a mother trying to get by with what she knows.

It's about family trying to help them cope with little resources to help.

This movie shows struggles in life common to rural America that society left behind.

One should go into this movie with a clean slate and watch bit for what it is.

It is a simple movie not trying to wow, to prove anything, or to win anything. It just tells a story about the life of people that are born and made everyday due to aa steamroller society that chooses to ignore the have nots.

It kind of scares me that people think this movie is a testament to love. Letting a kid be an impulsive, destructive brat is not what being a mother is about, and it isn't love, it's just wimping out. Children need a parental figure to guide and teach them, build character and caring, not just passively observe and tolerate! He's a child, not a pet! I raised kids alone with a garden to feed us and money from odd jobs I could do while they were at school. We didn't have stuff, but we had love and respect for each other and didn't worry about them destroying the house if I wasn't looking! Life can be tough, but I didn't really need a depressing saga with unlikeable characters(besides the grandfather)to drive it home.

Hands down excellent movie! It makes you think of how many people are raised with all the bells and whistles and still never got it right. Especially mothers who,(post above me), think it could be done differently because they had blah blah blah experience. ..weak constructive criticism if you actually think about it. There is no set in stone instructions on how to love. That being said enjoy the different perspectives on how many unfortunate mothers out there who can not pay for garbage drug prescriptions that come from doctors who really themselves are not healthy and intelligent about medicine. Many druggists today are drug dealers who get cash from drug companies that endorse them for prescribing their drugs. We need to wake up and relearn natural medicine and stop the corporate drug world that doesn't look into the lives of the individual. This movie shows how a mother (under certain circumstances) did what she had to do.

It's always refreshing to find a hidden gem in life. Sometimes it's something as simple as finding a $1 bill in your pants pocket before doing the laundry or a nice bottle of beer in the back of the refrigerator you had forgot was there. However finding a great movie that you didn't know existed is one of the great pleasures in life and that's how I feel about the film Flutter.

The story follows a young mother named JoLynn (played by Lindsay Pulsipher) who is raising her son who loves his pet pig, Wee Wee and fighting imaginary Sea Monsters. Johnathan (played by Johnathan Huth Jr), the son, has nystagmus, which makes his eyes "flutter." He also suffers from severe narrow angle glaucoma; an acute condition that if untreated can lead to permanent blindness. JoLynn has to battle poverty, her absence musician husband, and the threat of Johanthan being taken away by the state all while trying to do what she thinks is best for her and her son.

For this film to truly work you need a strong actress in the lead role, especially a mom who skips conventional medicine and gives her son pot brownies to battle her son's glaucoma. She also makes several decisions along the way that conventional society would frown upon. Lindsay Pulsipher is that strong actress and creates a character that is vulnerable, deeply felt, and enduring. Also her interaction with Johnathan Huth Jr is truly heartfelt and feels like they could actually be mother and son. The amazing thing is that this is Johnathan's first film role and I never would have known that without talking to Glenn Morshower while doing press for the film.

Glenn Morshower plays JoLynn's father-in-law Mark and he might be the heart of the entire film. Mark is a man who is stuck between his wife and his daughter-in-law, also while trying to do what's best for his Grandson. The scenes between Glenn and Lindsay are also a highlight to the film and showcase what both great actors they are in this film.

The great thing about independent film is that there are no rules that can be followed. There is no guarantee that the lead actor/actress will make it out of the film alive. There is no guarantee that there will be a happy ending. There are no guarantees at all and that kind of film making excites me as a viewer.

I haven't even mentioned the cast of actors in this film, which include Charles Baker (Breaking Bad), Charles Halford (True Detective), and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad). All shine in this film and make this movie worth your time. Writer/director Eric Hueber says the story line for Flutter was inspired by his own mom, who was only 19 when he was born and died in 2010. Kudos to him for bringing part of his personal life on screen and making it an amazing experience.