Straight A's

I wasn't sure what to expect. Ended up being a good movie. The end left a little to be desired,but overall not a deal breaker. Deserves atleast one chance at watching.

"Straight A's" is a simple family drama. The mysterious Uncle Scott (Ryan Phillippe) and his drug use and slacker attitude is a bad influence on the Henderson kids. Uptight Katherine (Anna Paquin) just wants him out of the house and wants her distant husband William (Luke Wilson) back home. The kids are pretty separate from all of this - they have their own story line where Scott shows them that "there's more to life than getting straight A's."

"He loves her; she loves his brother" - the tag line from the film's poster suggests that it's a comedy. Because that's just how love triangles usually play out. But here they went for drama. The drama of a marriage in trouble, the drama of strained family relations and the drama of an immature adult teaching life lessons to children. These are three different themes and stories, and the amateur editing didn't do them any favours. The parts don't add up to a greater whole even though they look like they could be fairly compelling.

The main problem as others have alluded to is that it just interesting enough. The actors are all good. Ryan Phillippe in particular is channelling a young Brad Pitt with a Texas accent, a swagger and killer looks to support that swagger. Anna Paquin is way more grown up than we've seen her before - mature with a subdued but strong determination. Unfortunately Luke Wilson is left to fend for himself since all his scenes are removed from the Southern family dynamic.

The kids are really just used as filler (and for some reason the title as well) probably to help ground the adult drama - to give their relationship dynamics more substance. But I would like to think that if the character of Scott was solidified a bit more he could have done that himself. Scott is a little strange - sees the image of his dead mother, and it's hard to say what his intentions are with Katherine. At least he's sweet and funny when he's with the kids.

"Straight A's" has some structure and pacing issues - it moves way too slowly at times. I also think that's what holds the story back. The family definitely has things to say about family dynamics; some of which get dragged out with lack of interest, some of which are a little strange but also a little bit intriguing, and some of which have been told before but there isn't much harm in telling them again. The film is a little too staid to appeal to many people but those who like the Texas/Louisiana culture with some country twang to their family drama should like it a lot.

I watched this movie with a grain of salt, due to all the negative reviews here on IMDb. I was expecting nothing and just killin' some time.

I had to come back to the reviews here to double check that the negative reviews were actually for this movie.

This was an excellent movie. The story is superb, like a really good short story I didn't notice the time and it was over before I realized it.

I don't know if people were expecting something like True Blood or maybe reacting to some of the character's behaviors they didn't like or what. But let me tell you what, this is one well made, well acted and well directed movie. The filming and "artful" effects are done in just enough of a way that really tied it together as well.

I was genuinely surprised that I had not heard of this movie before. I just came across it on Netflix at random.

My conclusion is: it is a very interesting story that I found to be far more real and interesting than the last 30 big Hollywood movies I have seen... Maybe more.

You will not really get the whole story of this film by its title, nor by the poster. It was good that I saw this film without any idea what this was all about, not even what genre it was. I thought it was a romantic comedy. It was not exactly one. Once the film started, I thought I would not like it. But as it went along, I was pulled in, all the way to its end. This is one good little film that deserves more attention.

Put simply, the story of "Straight As" is about how the lives of the Henderson family was affected when long-estranged Scott (Ryan Philippe) makes a surprise return, supposedly because their late mother had convinced him to. His sister-in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) is flustered by Scott's unwelcome visit right when his brother William (Luke Wilson) was out of town on business. But it was with his nephew Charles and niece Gracie that Scott made his biggest connections. However, with his foul language, cigarettes and drugs, will Scott ever be welcomed back by the family he left more than ten years ago?

The actors of this film worked very well. I loved that the acting in this film is very understated and restrained There were no big hyper- dramatic scenes as family melodrama are mostly prone to having.

I have not seen Ryan Philippe act in a lead role for a long time. His career had never really recovered since he and Reese Witherspoon broke up. He was outside his usual zone playing the black sheep of the family. I believed he played the multiple levels of his complex character very well.

I had not seen Anna Paquin act in a straight dramatic role ever since she won the Oscar as a precocious child in "The Piano"! It was a welcome break from notable recent roles with supernatural powers. I liked her subtle attack on a role which could have been a showcase of histrionics in a lesser actress.

Luke Wilson's role was rather right up his old alley, but it was good to see him in a dramatic role. The actors who played the two kids, Riley Thomas Stewart and Ursula Parker, were both very cute, natural and moving. Powers Boothe, who played the Henderson patriarch, also had his shining moments.

I liked how the whole story unfolded. Yes, the story elements were all soap opera staples, but they way they were woven together by director James Cox was interesting and involving. The musical score and the songs were all very emotionally apt to the scenes they accompanied. The cinematographer liked to play with lights and glare, which were good. As a whole, the unheralded film was a pleasant surprise which more people should know about. 7/10.

"Mom told me to come." After his mother tells him to visit the family he abandoned, Scott (Phillippe) surprises his sister in law (Paquin) and her kids. Decidind to wait for his brother to come home Scott stays and begins to form a relationship with Katherine's kids in spite of her requests. When Scott begins to act like his old self she wants him out, but he is determined to listen to his mother's advice...even though she is dead. I know what your thinking, a man hears his dead mother and listens, that can't make a good movie. You would be wrong. The acting in this is really good, but the story of each character is so well written and thought out that it really makes the movie that much more enjoyable. 99% of movies like this are very predictable and for the most part this one is too, but there is a twist in this I did not see coming, which also adds to the enjoyment of the movie. This is a surprise sleeper that is very much worth seeing. I recommend. Overall, a little low budget movie that proves good movies can be made with a good script. I give it a B+.