Flor da Juventude

"Flower" (2017 release; 93 min.) brings the story of Erica and her family and friends. As the movie opens, Erica and two friends expose and blackmail a cop who accepted a blowjob from Erica, a 17 yr. old minor. We then get to know Erica's mom, with whom Erica is close, and her mom's boyfriend Bob, whose 18 yr. old son Luke is being released from rehab and moves in as well. Luke claims that years ago he was molested by his teacher Will, and when they run into Will at the bowling alley, they decide that justice needs to be served. Did Will molest Luke? What becomes of Erica and Luke? At this point we're 15 min, into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to eee for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length debut of co-writer and director Max Winker, best known for his TV work. Here he brings the tale of a rebellious and well-meaning 17 yr. old girl who manages to get herself into trouble time and again. The movie benefits tremendously from Joey Deutch's acting talents, but alas the movie suffers visibly from a lack of focus. I mean, this is really three movies in one, as the focus shift and one movie becomes another one, before it becomes yet another movie again. By the end, the story has become utterly improbable and, frankly, preposterous. And that's a shame, as there are some good elements in the movie. But it is clear that Zoey Deutch's acting talents surpass the movie by a mile or two, There are some great songs in the movie, including a very nice cover of "Daydream" (the 1969 hit single of the Belgian band the Wallace Collection) by a guy I've never heard of before.

"Flower" premiered a year ago at the Tribeca Film Festival, and finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this past weekend, No idea why it has taken so long to get a theatrical release, but better late then never I suppose. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (4 people in total, including myself), and given that this movie won't benefit from strong word-of-mouth, this will not be playing long in theaters. In the end, "Flower' is notable only to see Zoey Deutch, but I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Zoey Duetch is delightful I really like her energy! I don't understand the hate Flower got, the humor is great and story is solid. Kinda weird in some aspects like how the main character is obsessed with innuendo/crude things and how the plot is about catching predators. The music is magnificent, quite ambient with peculiar vibes!

I feel like Erica was quite a peculiar teenager, but it is understandable considering the fact that she didn't have a father and her mother was always in need of boyfriends. What weirded me out the most was how Erica's sex life started where it shouldn't have. I also hated the easy way she could talk about blackmail. She only realised the seriousness of her actions when her freedom was in question. But, I did have a love-hate relationship with her. I liked her for her strenght of character and the way she didn't care what people thought of her, but I didn't like the fact that that made her do illegal things.

This is one of the most offbeat and weird movies I have seen in a while, in a good way! It's funny, raunchy, and really unpredictable. It also manages to be sweet(in a kinda weird, but still!), which I didn't think it would.. Not for everyone, but if you are up to seeing something different and aren't easily offended, give it a shot!

I agree with most of the other reviewers here, the beginning story and acting were amazing. Set a great foundation and buildup was enthralling. However the middle and end, can't even say came up short, but totally bombed. Was going to give the movie an 8 for acting, and story, but the ending gets it only a 4.