Hello Herman

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.

Without a doubt this movie serves the genre of drama pretty well. Norman Reedus and the other actors out perform each other hence the brilliance in each individual performance.

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.

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.

Truth be known- I've only watched this because of Norman Reedus. And because of him it's a 2 star, otherwise zero. I'm so sorry to be so disappointed about this movie. I understand that there must be so much good intentions behind it and it's a big story...but. But what in all saints name were they thinking??? Most people already wrote all you need to know about this movie so I'm not going to repeat that. Just...if you are really still set to watch this movie, then just focus on Reeduses blue eyes and try not to notice everything else. And if your intelligence gets insulted few times...and if basic components that should be holding story together are falling apart...just, you know, thank god they've had decent stylist who blended outfits perfectly with the light ratio. Great job there!