Sleeping Giant

I didn't expect much from this film. It didn't look bad, but I just thought maybe it'd end up being a forgettable independent coming-of-age film. Luckily, I found it to be a lot better than that. I thought the acting was a bit inconsistent overall (the lead male being the best actor of the boys), but the sensitive, nuanced direction and screenplay helped the film become something actually special. It's a film that is willing to contemplate ideas that do weigh a lot, but I bet a lot of people the same age as these characters might actually relate. I don't think it's a great, original film, but definitely well-executed for the most part.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this is a monster film, but the "Sleeping Giant" to which the title refers is not actually some great, dozing behemoth. Rather, the giant in question is the pent- up, sleeping aggression that boils in a boy's mind, his violent nature that, for the good of himself and others, must be kept hidden and forgotten. Andrew Cividino's debut film, a haunting piece about three teenage boys who battle through their boredom on the shores of Lake Superior, explores this unsettling reality of the teenage experience with startling precision and a steady hand. With the majority of modern teenage cinema focussing on serving up ridiculous morbidity and sex objects on a badly-made platter (Hunger Games, I'm looking at you) and the celebrated classics of the genre focussing on created a homogenized teenage reality with which we supposedly all identify (Boyhood, I'm looking at you) this film, a film that dares to show a little truth, is an especially timely slap in the face. Not only that, but I can say with confidence that Sleeping Giant is the best film I've seen all year.

Jackson Martin plays the protagonist of the film, Adam, a reticent fifteen-year old who exists, along with his friends Nate and Riley, in a state of perpetual boredom. Although the other two readily participate in all sorts of strange little schemes, it's Nate who drives them from one distraction to the next. Riley shares Nate's restlessness, but lacks the recklessness and bravado that solidifies Nate as the leader of the bunch. And Adam serves as the quiet voice of moderation, who goes mostly ignored, teetering on the fine line between retaining his principles and belonging with the people around him.

It isn't just his friends who make him feel this way. Adam's father treats Riley better than he treats Adam, and the girl he likes, Taylor, is making eyes at Riley. But what is Adam to do? Living a secluded life and brimful of boredom, his friends offer the only available respite. So he goes along, robbing convenience stores (their getaway vehicle is a golf cart), smoking weed in a bum's trailer, and in a particularly anarchic scene, tying a firecracker to a skateboard. As the boys test the limits of their power, they grow more confident, more fearless, almost even suicidal. But don't you dare think that you're in for a coming-of-age film.

This isn't a film about maturation. It's a film that addresses its subjects: teenage boys. It explores their hearts and minds, and the toxicity lurking in them. Nate is a stone-cold psycho, but it's frightening how recognizable he is. His dialogue is vulgar and bloated, but not unrealistic. And Nick Serino's performance is worthy of commendation ten times over.

The direction is fantastic. The film is shot in an unabashedly Canadian fashion, reveling in the landscape and in bodies rather than faces. For a debut, the subtlety is incredible. Brief suggestions and striking lines capture our attention and urge us to think about their implications. Part of it is sheer guesswork, but some of it pays off. If anything, it makes the film a more engaging experience.

Cividino's film is autobiographical in more ways than one. First of all, the setting is gathered straight from Cividino's childhood. But more importantly, the film reflects how he experienced those lonely shores, how he coped with boredom, and how poisonous his options were. As Adam descends further into juvenile savagery, he begins to develop strange -- but admittedly relatable -- little habits. He becomes fascinated with a fishmonger that his father is having an affair with, going so far as to place a telescope outside her house and watch her undress. He lies to his parents, Taylor, and finally to his friends.

The final confrontation refers back to ancient Greek tragedies. The threads of fate are tied by this point, we know what's going to happen, and when it does, we realize that it didn't even need to, which makes it all the more heartbreaking.

The only thing the film lacks is a real ending. Sure, it ends, but it seems to come out of nowhere. Something momentous has happened, at least in my mind, but the ending doesn't seem to do the harsh beauty of the film justice, freeze-framing the story in a way that's very, very unsatisfying. This is a problem, but still only a minor blunder that I'll admit is subject to taste.

As they say, boys will be boys. And guess what? They're right.

Andrew Cividino, in his feature-length directorial debut, has masterfully captured the behavior and stresses of typical adolescent boys. The slip-fighting, trash-talking, hijinks, humor, poor judgment, and friendship will take adult male viewers on a trip through time, and the attractive and engaging cast will capture female viewers as well.

The movie's three teen leads-first-time actors Jackson Martin as the wimpy, red-haired Adam Hudson, Nick Serino as the mouthy, ever-challenging Nate, and Reece Moffett as Nick's brooding and likeable cousin Riley-carry the story like veterans, largely because they were given rope to suggest scenes, ad-lib lines, and be themselves. Serino won his role as Nate in a casting call in his native Thunder Bay, Ontario. When no suitable Riley was found, Nick suggested his real-life cousin Reece, also a local. Indeed, Rita Serino, who plays the cousins' grandmother, is their real-life grandmother! Such casting doesn't sound like a formula for good filmmaking, but, here, it works. The boys won two international awards for ensemble acting and each of them won a nomination, or award, for best supporting actor at a major film festival with Nick winning Best Supporting Actor at the Canadian Screen Awards ("Canadian Oscars"). Needless to say, director Andrew Cividino cleaned up on major directorial awards, winning six.

The entire story unfolds on location in the Sunnyside Beach community of Amethyst Harbour a few miles from Thunder Bay. While spending a summer with his parents there, Adam is befriended by Nate and Riley who are summering with their grandmother nearby. The trio engage in typical rambunctious behavior, much of it resisted by wimpy Adam, to include skateboarding, cliff jumping, wrestling, sling-shot wars, egging homes, tobacco chewing, stealing beer, playing basketball, falling from golf carts, and smoking pot. At one point, Adam balks at a 35-foot cliff jump. As Nate yells, "You coward inbred f-k...jump!!" from below, Riley turns to Adam and says, matter-of-factly, "Look, if you jump, the worst that's going to happen is that you might get physically injured. If you don't jump, there's a 100% chance that Nate's gonna mentally abuse you all summer for not jumping."

But the plot is not all basketballs and beer. The mood darkens when Nate reveals a secret to Adam, one that alters his character. Then Nate brings the movie to a boil as the boys play a board game with Adam's parents. Irritated by a game rule, Nick goes on a frank, obscenity-laced rant in which he trashes his adult hosts and openly humiliates Riley, earning himself a bloody nose. Finally, the mood goes fully dark when a suggested coming-of-age theme drives Adam to tell a lie, a lie that brings the movie to an emotional and well-foreshadowed conclusion. Five of the last six words in the movie are f-bombs. Given the context, you won't even notice.

The boys' interactions are typical, genuine, and believable, and the trio leads the viewer through an entire range of teen emotions from bored, funny, happy, lovesick, flip, fearful, sarcastic, melancholy, angry, jealous, embarrassed, courageous, and sad. If I find any fault, it's that the movie ends too soon. You could watch these three kids act all evening. The movie is a remake of a 2014 short film in which Reece and Nick also starred and is beautifully filmed and nicely scored.

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Exact Google Earth Filming Locations (use 6-6-2017 imagery date)

Lakeside front yard, 48° 32' 35.34" N 88° 54' 13.39" W (community fair scene)

House and lakeside front yard, 48° 32' 34.73" N 88° 54' 3.54" W (Hudson's summer cabin; outdoor baseball toss scenes)

Back yard, 48° 32' 33.51" N 88° 53' 53.42" W (trampoline scene)

Pier, 48° 32' 31.97" N 88° 53' 52.49" W (pier scenes with Adam and Taylor and with boys chewing tobacco)

Sunnyside Beach, 48° 32' 32.25" N 88° 53' 51.82" W (final scene with Adam and Riley)

Roadside, 48° 32' 35.58 "N 88° 53 51.36" W (drunken Riley stuck in truck)

Recreational area, 48° 32' 37" N 88° 53' 58" W (opening swing set scene; basketball scene; community games scene)

Sunnyside Beach, 48° 32' 32.68" N 88° 53' 33.74" W (early wrestling scene)

Crystal Beach Variety (Sunys gas station), 48° 32' 38.02" N 88° 54' 47.83" W (beer theft scene)

The Fish Shop, 48° 32' 38.78" N 88° 54' 57.90" W (fish shop scene)

Rocky cascade, 48° 32 '2.72" N 88° 56' 30.08" W (Adam sitting on rock under bridge)

35-foot cliff, Caribou Island, 48° 31' 34.21" N 88° 49' 39.26" W (first cliff jump scene)

100-foot cliff (Todd's Cliff), Caribou Island, 48° 31' 39.60" N 88° 50 '1.60" W (boating scene and final cliff jump scene)

The Sleeping Giant, 48° 20' 0.22" N 88° 54' 31.52" W (multiple distant views)

Imagine a movie that seems a montage of home video shots of three young teens having a summer vacation, which feels both whimsical and real. It slowly, very slowly builds up towards the tragic ending where characters get to live (or die) with their choices.

It was an interesting movie, an original story, with great acting all around. However, be warned that you just have to be in the mood to appreciate this. It is not a fun teen comedy nor is it a dark dramatic thriller, but a realistic foray into the adolescent psyche.

It is also pretty low budget, although (I think) masterfully done. This is not a blockbuster that you can enjoy with your friends over beer and pizza, but a thought provoking movie that only a few people heard about and even fewer saw. But I believe it is worth viewing.

During the summer in a resort area on the northern Ontario shore of Lake Superior, three boys in their early teens hang out together. They include Adam, a quiet boy from a well-off family; Riley a tough boy who lives in a modest home with his grandmother; and Nate, Riley's equally tough cousin who is staying with Riley and their grandmother during the summer.

Knowing that this was yet another boys-coming-of-age movies, my first reaction was "Good God, not ANOTHER one"! But there are some films in this category that stand out among the (seemingly) thousands of others. "Sleeping Giant" is one of them. For one thing, Adam does not go along with the hyper-macho talk of the other boys or the milder macho talk coming from his father. There are more than a few hints that Adam might be gay.

The first half is rather difficult. Nate is so viciously mean-spirited and bullying that the viewer can feel dragged through an endurance test. This is partly because of the accuracy of the portrayal of teenaged bullies. While it is more than tempting to wish Nate harm due to his meanness, these feelings change in the second half when major dramatic turns take place.

Feelings come to the surface during a board-game. This sequence is powerful for many reasons. One is that it is so true-to-life with one character acting as an inconsistent rule enforcer.

The drama that follows is compelling and moving thus making the tough slogging of the first half well worth the experience. There are other fine characterizations as well including Adam's father who is trying to be a father while also trying to appear "cool" to the teenagers. - dbamateurcritic.