Hello Herman

This a truly haunting film. Norman Reedus as an online journalist is understated and thoughtful. Garett Buckstrom as the teenager killer is oddly compelling. It's a powerful subject, hypnotically rendered. And I found myself thinking about my own high school bully. Halfway through the film, my wife asked me, "Are kids that mean? The answer, alas, is yes. And the film shows the ways technology---Facebook and the like---renders cruelty both easier to commit and more harmful The killings in the film are rendered in freeze frame so that we see the horror on the victims' faces, but nothing else. There's plenty of gore, though, in the video games that obsess the teenage killer who commits the massacre. The film is part of the "Hello Herman Project" to create dialogue about school bullying. This compelling film is an excellent tool to get the conversation started between parents and children. Well worth watching.

Normally I wouldn't review a movie that I couldn't finish, but I can't let the shill reviews stand. This is a bad movie: badly written, badly acted, and contrived in every element. The quality is lower than a soap opera, the tone is more juvenile than a children's movie, the propaganda is more shameless than North Korean TV. When a movie is so slanted that it makes you question its unfair treatment of child killers and Neo-Nazis something has gone terribly wrong. The subject of school shooters has been handled better in several movies, and this adds nothing, a movie for idiots by idiots. I almost hope that this is some sick satire, it would help me sleep at night knowing that there aren't such demented morons out there, though that wouldn't really change my rating, because then it would just be a very bad joke.

The premise of this movie could have made for a good story but the infantile development by the director was not only bias...something a real crime of this nature should certainly not need...but made you feel as if you were watching a bad soap opera. The b rate actors, excluding the reporter and the young criminal, bring a new low to movies. It would have been easier to watch an hour of the stupid video game they kept showing. Rob Estes was so bad that I actually hope I never, ever have to endure him on the screen again. If you are going to bash Fox...and I am not saying you shouldn't...make sure you at least appear smarter. Terrible direction and lousy actors shred any hope of the premise rising to any fruitful work.

I think the premise of this film is very intriguing, but I think the execution was flawed. The actors were all very well cast and played their roles brilliantly, but I think the script was a bit shoddy in some places and could have benefited from being longer and fleshing out the characters a bit more- the potential was there but the back stories weren't fully utilized. The story could have done with more development as well- it felt a tad rushed in places.

That being said, I think this film is (sadly) very relevant to the world today. It has an important message that needs to be heard, and so far this is one of the only (if not the only) films that touches on this subject matter. It deserves a wider audience because it really does have a lot to say.

I think the film was well cast, with Norman Reedus and Garret Backstrom giving great performances. They really make you care about their characters, which from the premise of the film clearly isn't the easiest thing to do, but that is really the whole point. The script and the direction could have been better, but overall the film succeeds in doing what it set out to do- make you think.

I am speechless. The film was extremely powerful and touched me right to my core. After watching this film it reminds me of how important it is that we respect and are kind to the people in our lives no matter what role they play in it. I felt very moved and an intense sense of gratitude towards life after this movie. It really makes you assess what is important in life and opens your awareness to what can happen when you forget how precious life is. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see some phenomenal acting with an amazing story line.

Cheers, Christian