"Skate-punk rebel Heath (Andrew Jacobs) is the son of a Mexican-immigrant mom who's been detained by the Feds and has disappeared into the immigration system. Mr. Earnshaw (James Caan!), the owner of the factory where she worked, feels guilty and brings Heath to live with his family, where the young man and Catherine (Paloma Kwiatkowski) rekindle an old childhood friendship."
"In what appears to be a vanity endeavor, Bryan Ferriter wrote, produced, directed, and stars in this 2022 version of the novel that brings nothing new to the material save for a heavy dose of camp. The wildly amateurish performances turn the story's tragic high points into moments of unintentional goofiness. The florid camerawork (shot in Montana, of all places) just makes things worse."
A teen-set adaptation reimagines Heath as the son of a detained Mexican immigrant who is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, sparking a rekindled friendship with Catherine, a social outcast. The film pairs provocative subjects such as deportation and teen suicide with dead-eyed performances and maudlin writing that undermine emotional weight. A separate 2022 version by Bryan Ferriter serves as a vanity production that adds camp but no fresh insight, with amateurish acting and florid camerawork exacerbating tonal problems. Despite clear ambition and period-dress effort in some low-budget adaptations, execution frequently turns tragedy into unintended goofiness.
Read at Vulture
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