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I'm not sure if I was watching the same movie as everyone else. The premise was interesting but the story went absolutely nowhere. The `Cinematography' was terrible. All hand held with hard zooms and pans sometime with with late focus which appeared unintentional. The shots were all ill thought out and the dialog seemed as if it was all improvisation (and bad improvisation at that). There was quite a bit of narration in the first 15 minutes, which just dies with the rest of the film somewhere in the middle. You don't get to know or care about any of the characters. However, there were some very interesting editing and musical soundtrack choices but in the end good editing and music does not a good movie make.

The whole movie had a visceral feel to it. I could, believe me, feel the swelt of the Florida swamp. The boy is amazing. The scene, where he stands over the bridge, ecstatic after his escape, is stunning. So where some other characters.

If u can suspend yr judgement on the ending and want to "feel" the movie go for it. very sensual.

This movie feels astonishingly like you are watching a documentary. The first time I caught it I thought I was watching Gummo, or some documentary. Like a documentary, sometimes plot structure is there or isn't. That disappointed me a bit but the second time I was willing to cut it some slack, and just take it in. I finally understood that this is a remarkable achievement. I prefer it without structure now. Movies which kick you between plot points never have a prayer of achieving anything this natural. So you don't recognize where you are at any point. Guess what? the other ninety nine percent of movies released any year are for you...

Ryan, the sweet dumb teen of the movies focus is drawn to serial distractions and fleeting moments with no sense of the impending squalor that awaits him unless he can develop a longer attention span. This IS exactly what suburban adolescence is like. I remember being this frustrated, aimless and nihilistically hopeless.

The suburban environment adults provide young people are desolate, unstimulating places of abandoned dreams, or dreams in holding patterns while the bills are paid. While that rubric is getting worn out in film, this treatment is very fresh.

Truffauts 400 Blows covers the aimlessness of boyhood in a similar way.

This film reminded me of the Iranian film "White Balloon", in the following sense.

In White Balloon, the whole plot is "two kids go to buy a goldfish, and a bunch of stuff happens to them along the way". That's it. Nothing else. There isn't necessarily any point to any of the stuff that happens to them. There isn't any theme. There's just... lots and lots of stuff. And then the movie just ends.

In the same way, this movie is: a kid escapes from juvenile detention, and a bunch of stuff happens to him while he's on the run. And then the movie is over. What's the point? No point.

If you can get PAST that, then there's a lot to enjoy here. This, in spite of the fact, that as another commenter pointed out, there are lots of technical flaws in the cinematography, that might *appear* to be intentional, "for effect", but are probably just goof ups or inexperience. However, in between the out of focus shots and the "unsteady-cam" shots and the underexposed shots are some really interesting sequences and very nice use of music to create mood.

To really enjoy this film, change your expectations: see it as a series of 3-5 minute "mini-plays" that all happen to revolve around the same character, Ryan Kazinski. And then, just to watch this young actor, Ryan Daugherty in his first feature film, is a real treat. Especially heartbreaking is the scene between Ryan and his brother (played by his real life brother, Jon Daugherty.) I expect that after some casting directors see this film, the phone may be ringing in the Daugherty household.

The only description I was given of this movie before seeing it was "It's f*cked up" from about five different people. I didn't know what to feel after the movie was over. Should I admire the technical genius of the mise-en-scene? or hate the lack of closure to this lame story? See it for yourself if you haven't already, it's worth the experience.