Jamesy Boy

I have to disagree with the other reviews here. Before deciding to watch this film, I took a sneak peak on a youtube trailer. It looked decent so I gave it a go. Maybe for snobby upper class people, this movie would not be that great. Truth is, it's a very realistic look into the life of a troubled young man. I can relate due to the events that have taken place in my life as well. If you are a fan of "Baby Boy" , "Boys N The Hood" , "Dog Pound", "Felon" etc, then you will probably enjoy this film as well. It's more of a modern day teenage gangster movie which depicts the reality of a 14 year old violent, drug dealing, stick up kid, hard ass who weaves his way in and out of jail. The acting was up to par with any other Hollywood movies, and was most definitely not "terrible", as stated in other reviews. I rated this movie 8 stars due to the fact that I had expected very little from this film, and yet it delivered a true, gritty, grimy, feel of the life of a teenage gangster. Paired up with average acting and nicely shot camera angles. I would suggest this movie to anyone who enjoys this genre of film. Take a chance, you won't regret it!

After about 10 minutes of scrolling through the catalogue on prime I found the kind of movie I was looking for. Of all the movies, I decided on Jamesy Boy. What sold me on it was the picture of Ving Rhames on the movie poster, and even though his role turned out to just be a cameo, he still delivered one of his signature monologues which doesn't have much to do with the movie, but its so unique and authentic that worth every second of entertainment value! Along with the cameo from Ving I was surprised that James Woods who plays the warden of the prison, adds some great veteran acting presence. Other than Ving Rhames and James Woods the cast is mostly young actors with very little movie experience but actually play their roles really well. My hats off to the director of this one for really getting the most out of the actors he had to work with and I was surprised to see the main actor Spencer Rocco Lofranco really didn't get much for chances after this movie which I really think his rugged and tough performance warranted more lead roles in higher budget movies after this.

The story is pretty interesting about a teenager who seems to be pretty down on his luck has no choice but to turn to the streets and a life of crime in order to survive. The ebs and flows are really nice and the movie goes back and forth between his current life in prison and his past life as part of a gang which got him into prison.

I recommend this movie for late night watching, where you're looking for a good story with good acting from a cast you wouldn't expect to be as good as it is!

Not gratuitously violent, lacked depth of character development but left you thinking about the world some kids are growing up in and hopeful for the real life James Burns.

This movie might not be for everyone, when I read some of the reviews I can understand your point of view when remembering it in hindsight but I must tell you I was unable to notice any of the small mistakes while I was watching.

Maybe because I've been in the same situation at the same age, made all the same mistakes with the feeling of it being right at the time, like you had no other choice.

If you lived the life of a child believing it was full-grown surrounded by vicious criminals whose "standards and morals" you thought was real and you believed it like this kid did and had to go trough it the hard way to finally realize, or if you can relate to that, then this movie might be for you.

Not because it will make you feel good or not because it is portrayed in a way that makes "thug life" seem cool like these movies I grew up with and became classics.

In a way that made me feel as the main character went through life making decisions, I could understand and relate to his choices, it wasn't always spelled out why he took upon himself to do some of the things he did.

His standards and morals, he stood up for them even though it is a rare thing in that world, a very rare thing I must say knowing what I speak of. And when he was old enough to realize that he had to pay the price knowing he was trying to hold up this "standard and moral" that does not even exist in that world and the one who payed the price was him.

I liked this film and the main character, it made me feel through the whole movie as the decisions was made and I reminisced on my own life from an adults point of view gone through hell and back.

Best luck to you James, best luck.

In spite of some of the violence (not too graphically displayed in most scenes), the film was well-and-sensitively done: realistic, well- considered, edited and displayed. Although I'm not a fan of that specific genre of music, it was well-chosen for the film (nice 'trailer song'). I'm recommending it because I believe the producers and directors had a genuinely-interesting story to tell. They chose good actors, researched the history, and made action and sensitive moments believable. The time-line was a little tough to follow at first, but you eventually catch up with that. They did it well. ~Bob Shank, Tucson AZ