mrh121857's reviews

I could not make it through this film. The most unrealistic and painfully contrived coming out story I've ever watched. Or tried to watch. Too many cringe-worthy moments. After the homecoming scene, I just fast-forwarded to the end. Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner (Simon's parents) were the only characters that seemed remotely real to me. Simon attended the weirdest high school in the history of teen coming-of-age films.

I knew nothing about this movie beforehand. I have to say I really enjoyed it. No, it's not a piece of classic cinema. But I found it really entertaining. It made me laugh. A lot. Most of the characters were over-the-top funny, and a bit cliched, but for me, it worked. I think the only disappointing part is that Topher Grace cannot sing. Not even a little.

I agree with several of the other posts I saw: this mini-series lacked the joy and lightness of the books and the 1990's series. Very little playfulness until the last few episodes (although I did like how they wove together the different generations). "Shawna" was utterly unlikeable and just...morose. The Twins were good comic relief.

What I'm confused about is the timeline. It makes no sense. Seems to be off by about eight years, and the characters' ages diverge. In 1976, Mouse was 26 and Mrs. Madrigal was 56. In this series Mouse is 56 and Mrs. Madrigal is 90. And, if this series is taking place in 2018 or 2019, none of the numbers add up.

A construction worker. A cop. A cowboy. Some leathermen. Mercifully, they stopped short of involving a Native American in this exercise in defining different aspects of masculinity. A lot of generalizations, not many specifics. I stayed with it the whole way, but I didn't come away with any new insights.