Pups

This film was worth seeing. It tackled the issue of gun violence among youths head-on and was very witty and thoroughly entertaining. Cameron Van Hoy, as Stevie, puts forth a tremendous performance and has amazing presence in front of a camera, bringing to our attention the very real anger and emotion of this young, fragile looking boy. Rocky, a young Mischa Barton, is very full of wit and is very corrupt in her innocence as well, and their dialog is clever and amusing. Their relationship projects the idea that they have grown up too fast, which makes sense in today's world. The emotional connection that each of the hostages (who's individual characters are also developed very well in this movie) make with each other and with Stevie and Rocky is heartwarming, and the way this movie comes together is brilliant and shocking. Considering that it was so low-budget, i think everyone involved did a fantastic job. It even has Burt Reynolds. My rating: 7/10

I chose to watch "Pups" because I'm a fan of Mischa Barton and Burt Reynolds, but I do have to say that I was disappointed by this movie. The main thing that bothered me was that it's very loud! So loud, that it gave me a headache. Why is it deemed necessary that Cameron Van Hoy's character "Stevie" needs to shout every single one of his lines? It gets very aggravating watching this kid rant and rave for the entire film. I agree with some of the other comments too, that "Pups" just doesn't seem to flow together. It drags at points, gets repetitive, and tiring to watch. I also agree that these kids were presented as too filthy minded for kids their age. The point would have still gotten across, even if the kids were less vulgar with their speech and attitudes. I ended up rating "Pups" a "5" because it's far from the worst I've ever seen in film, but it was no where near as good as I hoped it would be. If you're a big fan of Mischa or Burt too, then watch it like I did just so you can say you've seen it, but don't expect that "Pups" will end up being one of your favorites.

Pups is a movie with both good sides and bad sides. To start with the good news: Great acting by all three major roles. Burt Reynolds does his best. Cameron van Hoy is even better. But Mischa Barton is the best of all and shows that she is very talented. Also very good: The dramatic development during the hostage. Ash seems also a very talented director. But the film is also a failure. The Burt Reynolds part is very unrealistic and badly written. But the worst part of Pups is the extremely simple moral views. The writer/director is telling us "look what happens if parents are away all the time and the media is showing violent movies". This simplistic view is a missed chance. Pups could have been much better.

I was about to turn the TV off and go to bed, then I saw some interesting movie on TV about two kids robbing a bank. First off, thank God someone finally casts actual 13 year olds to play 13 year olds (generally speaking, movies cast at least 3-4 years over what the actual age is, therefore high school seniors are 22 year old men and women which make it very hard to believe). The children were great actors for the most part. The message they were trying to say was a bit diluted, because it was obvious the child had a mental issue, and that clouded his own decision making abilities, yet the wheelchair man continually tried to make him out to be a product of the 1990's, and play it off as though he didn't have a choice. This is exactly what the media tries to do, is ignore the fact that the kid has a serious issue and blame it on the video games and the music he listens to. Amazingly, the Kurt Loder interview was intelligent and I don't think his "character" (if you can call it that) tried to reveal that image with the sequence. The very ending sequence was extremely powerful, and I think that should be the message and not who is to blame for the situation--the message should be what CAN happen if we don't change our ways. That's what happens if we don't start parenting responsibly and don't put any effort into raising a child the proper way, and indentifying mental issues before they go too far.

What struck me most after seeing 'Pups' is how intense the whole experience is - you feel as though you have lived through it. As such, at times it is not a particularly enjoyable film, but thought provoking to say the least - especially in the way it challenges the viewer to evaluate their own motives for seeing the film, practically daring the viewer to enjoy it. Worth watching (if you can stay with it for the whole distance) just for the last 10 seconds. They'll stay with you for a long time.