The Wise Kids (2011) User Reviews (13)

Could have been so much more

[TheCineSinge · 6/10 · 30 September 2012]

The Wise Kids, though a fairly good film, leaves me feeling disappointed. I did have high hopes for this and I must admit, they weren't quite met. Here's why.

The film, I believe, has two (debatably three) strong and convincing characters and performances: Tim, Bree (and Austin). The rest are hampered with unconvincing acting and iffy dialogue - the guiltiest party being Laura. Austin comes to by the end, but Tim and Bree were the only consistent characters and also, I'd say, the only believable relationship.

Which moves onto the next point: relationships. For a film about community, more exposition and depth was required with the full cast of characters and their respective roles within the community (Bree's father, the old woman and the atheist woman spring to the forefront of my mind but all of them, to be honest) More time should have been spent with them and explaining more about them. This applies to both lead and secondary characters - Tim and Bree are good characters, yes, but not perfect. Certainly, more was needed on the the three main characters' relationship as a whole - more focus was required with that.

As a result of this lack of depth, the ending feels weak and unsatisfying; since things aren't properly secured down at the start, it's a lot more difficult for it to be at the end.

This is where The Wise Kids needs to prioritise. It often focuses on less important plot points where it should be explaining more we need to know (such as their aforementioned relationships and situations, such as whenever Tim came out to his dad, and the biggest of all: Tim's absent mother - a HUGE hole in the film)

So basically, it needs more depth. It isn't a shallow film by any means, I certainly think it has it's heart in the right place with regards to it's themes and the film as a whole, but it did require more depth for both to work properly.

As I said, I was very much drawn into Bree and Tim. I think the film required a bit more with them but with the time they were given, they were great and what actually made the film worth watching. Certainly The Wise Kids' strongest element.

Yet I can't and won't shy away from the fact that I still felt unsatisfied, as much as it disappoints me to say. The film just needed more attention and focus both from the director and in the editing room.

I wish there was more discussion (I do quite crave it) but unfortunately, not many people have seen this. Maybe a few more reviews can get the ball rolling!

Wise story & kids

[in1984 · 7/10 · 10 March 2013]

A very wise alternative for teens, and parents, looking for more than the standard collection of Christmas holiday cartoons and films.

The title has a clear tie-in with the film, but then gets multiple meanings added to it throughout. There's no lingering or dwelling upon it. The story moves quickly along and stays adventurous. Whether you interpret it as a setup for a sequel or a seed planter, the ending is a masterpiece. It's not a simple wrap-up that lets you disregard the rest of the film. Instead, it reinforces emphasis on the story as a whole.

It's main weaknesses are mostly budget related. It has the made for TV look (though the camera angles and work are still excellent), would have benefited greatly from a couple better actors/castings in the adult roles (the main 3 kids all show exceptional skill), and about 5 more minutes of plot development and scene pauses/extensions throughout the film to help reinforce critical parts that less focused people may otherwise miss.

Not what you would expect.

[bboyminn · 7/10 · 29 January 2013]

The plot should be pretty clear by now, so I won't re-hash that.

First, the meaning of the title becomes apparent before the opening credits even roll. That was something of a surprise. Once I knew what it was, it seem perfectly obvious, but none the less caught me as a delightful surprise.

Now, one would think this plot would virtually write itself. Gay boy, deep south, highly religious setting, it seem crystal clear where this movie is heading. But oddly, it never goes there. Instead, we get a unique script that approaches the events from a whole new direction.

I'll not spoil it with details, but this story does not follow the seeming obvious path. Yet, it is a very charming coming of age film that is as much about the supporting characters as it is about the Gay Boy.

Excellent performances by the entire cast. Tyler Ross is absolutely charismatic in every performance he is in. And the supporting cast plays out their role with equal presence and skill. A very captivating movie if you like unique independent films. Well worth watching.

It is available on Amazon Instant video for streaming. If you have an Amazon account all ready, then it is just a matter of initiating the Instant Movie streaming part. Simply enter a pin number, which will be given you during the registration process, and it will be billed to the credit card you already have on file.

The movie really surprised me in that it does not follow the cliché plot line of a gay teen in the south. Engaging movie with very engaging characters. If you get a chance to see Tyler Ross in "Nate & Margaret" that is also a very charming movie. I expect to see a lot more good work from Tyler Ross in the future, a very talented actor.

A fantastic movie

[jm10701 · 26 June 2013]

Wow. Movies don't get much better than this little gem.

The setting - a small, very close-knit, conservative Baptist Church in the American Deep South, more than one of whose members turns out to be gay - may be off-putting to some, but perhaps others will get past contemporary stereotypes and discover this wonderful little movie - because nothing in The Wise Kids is either predictable or stereotyped.

None of the characters are one-dimensional villains or good guys, gays don't hate Christians and Christians don't hate gays, homos and heteros get along okay - and yet (and this is the movie's most astounding accomplishment) every person in it is real and complex and nobody gets shoehorned into a false and creepy "let's all just love one another" box.

These are real people, doing what real people do in tough situations. Not ranting at each other like the morons on talk radio and in government but living together, working through their differences instead of using the differences to attack each other.

Without ever being the least bit sappy or manipulative or simplistic, this movie shows what love is: Loving is hard most of the time, and it hurts - a LOT - sometimes, but it's worth every tear and every drop of blood it costs.

This is a fantastic movie. The actors are great, every last one of them (although Allison Torem as Laura is electrifying, the steady, pulsing heart of the movie); the story and dialog are smart without ever seeming to be smart, interesting and entertaining without ever being mindless: just people talking to each other about things that matter to them; and the direction by Stephen Cone - pulling all of this together so beautifully and so powerfully, while writing AND producing AND acting one of the main roles - is just astounding.

I cannot praise this movie highly enough or recommend it enthusiastically enough. It deserves far more recognition than it will ever get.

Kickstart my heart—crowd-funded indie decidedly has its moments

[The_late_Buddy_Ryan · 7/10 · 7 January 2015]

An unassuming no-budget film (there's a long list of Kickstarter contributors in the credits) that has its heart in the right place, even if production values are a bit shaky. Writer/director Stephen Cone doesn't have much of a flair for natural-sounding dialogue, though I was impressed that he gives his most effective speeches to one teenage character (Laura, beautifully played by Allison Torrem) who's not having a crisis of conscience and who stoutly defends the values of the conservative Baptist community she was born into; in two of the more engaging scenes, she explains why she finds female preachers "kind of creepy" (cf. 1 Cor. 13:34, 35) and, later on, pleads with her BFF not to lose her faith because "I totally want to be with you in Heaven."

The more conventional coming-of-age crises of the other main characters didn't seem as compelling, though the performances are perfectly fine; the closeted drama coach's moment of what used to be called homosexual panic is certainly one that any viewer with functioning gaydar will have seen coming from a long way down the road. I agree with other viewers that the film seems to be heavily padded with random atmospherics and drawn-out reaction shots that don't do much to advance the plot; the best line in the script is a barely audible throwaway—a cast member in a Nativity play gets off a wisecrack to the effect of "That's why you'll always be a shepherd and never a Wise Man."

Torturously slow moving film with extremely amateur cinematography and physically painful audio

[herterb · 2/10 · 17 June 2012]

I saw this film today at Frameline in San Francisco. I grew up in Tennessee and my grandfather was a Baptist preacher, but unless you were a fundamentalist/devout churchgoer I doubt you will get moved by anything in this film.

I have a new theory that my enjoyment of a film shown at Frameline is inversely proportional to how much the director in their introduction compliments the audience on how great a city San Francisco is. If a film is good it needs no introduction and they should be done away with at festivals so there is more time for Q & A.

The camera/lens combo they usually used had a shallow depth of field and what should have been in focus was either often not in focus and or the focus puller was slow to focus. Often they focused on a different actor than I wanted to focus on at the time. Frustrating. This footage should all be scraped and they should start over. Should have just used a different lens with deep depth of field if they were not skilled enough to do it right. They were trying to be too artistic but did not know what they were doing.

The casting was terrible and the acting was almost always very bad too. There were only 2 or 3 actors that were any good. There were way too many characters in the film, and it made no sense to do that with a small budget. I could not keep up with who was who and did not even care to. The congregation was the most diverse one imaginable for the gay characters to be so closeted. They did not look like people who would be married to each other. I could not figure out what the message was any way the lead who is questioning his attraction to men was still making out with is wife, drunk or not. I had no empathy for these characters. They were not believable in my world. You don't go off to NYC form South Carolina as a youth and come back unchanged. This film had a multitude drawn out scenes of unimportant events that 99.999999% of editors would have cut out because they did not advance the storyline. the 91 minutes seemed more like three hours. I kept looking for the progress bar at the bottom of the screen (like on Youtube) hoping to see that it was almost over.

Apparently the budget for this film was no budget and they could not only not afford lights but could not afford a bounce card either. Looks terrible. Under lit not by choice apparently but because they didn't know, despite obviously shooting it in digital. I have never seen outdoor vegetation rendered in such unrealistic looking colors. I doubt they had a budget for color correction and boy did they need it. This film looked like they messed up the camera settings on everything they shot. Overexposed shots and underexposed shots were the norm. The audio is hard to understand cause it was not miked properly and they did not de-ess the voices so be prepared for very harsh on the ears audio. Poorly edited, poorly shot. The director was one of the lead actors and he should stick to acting. Film-making involves a completely different and huge set of skills and he does not have any of them except maybe, maybe a little promise in scriptwriting, but he needs to let someone else have final cut. Why is it everybody thinks they are a filmmaker just like everybody thinks they are an architect.

Everyone I talked to about this film afterwards (all women) thought it was as painfully slow as I did. The audience I was in had several of those people that will laugh at anything, ugh, which made it all the more unbearable. Simpletons love this film. Everything was so predictable except the ending which was non-existent.

Amazing, Wise and Authentic

[lincoln-15 · 10/10 · 27 February 2012]

I was able to see this deeply moving picture at a film festival in Australia. Rarely do films touch upon the human spirit in such a real and raw way while maintaining a gentle quality. This amazing film somehow managed to hit upon some very real issues of faith in a way that were both authentic and unique.

A group of high school students who are members of a church youth group are preparing to begin their adult lives. They are in the process of figuring out who they are and why they believe what they do. Where does ones faith come from? How do parents and churches influence those who grow up in a faith community? What happens when kids observe that the real world does not always gel with everything that was taught? What happens when a person who is a dedicated Christian is also comfortable and honest about their personal discovery that they are also gay? Can a person have a crisis of faith, and that crisis lead to a new and better understanding of God? These are some of the questions that are explored in the film. I've never seen anything like the subject matter covered here.

Layered upon the backdrop of the kids in the youth group are the struggles of the youth pastor and his wife -- portrayed in a way that will move anyone with a heart to tears. Their storyline is an amazing revelation of the pain and suffering that happens when a church's doctrine is not based upon the reality of the human condition. It was riveting.

This movie shows that life is not one big "get out of jail free" card for Christian high school students. Their problems may be different to their secular counterparts but they are none- the-less real. This movie shows good and decent kids dealing with the real world situations that their pastors and parents would rather not discuss. They are wise because they deal with the reality of the world through logic and reason instead of through man made doctrine. The subject matter is brave.

This movie pulled me into its center. By the end I cared deeply for every one of the characters -- all for different reasons. It is a profoundly humanizing movie full of believable characters.

If you have been looking for something touching and rare, I would highly recommend this film.

Creepshow redux

[Suradit · 4/10 · 29 June 2014]

Throughout much of the movie I kept thinking this was either some Stephen King story about a town taken over by really creepy people from which a number of characters were trying to literally or figuratively flee ... or maybe a Jane Goodall remake where the chimpanzees were replaced by people.

Just about everyone in the movie kept making tight-lipped grimaces or they bared their teeth in even more alarming pseudo-smiles like chimps who were really stressed out, quite often accompanied by these huh-huh- huh vocalizations that might have been intended to mimic laughter. They must have developed muscle cramps in their jaws from the constant flexing of facial muscle, exposing their teeth in Stephen King inspired displays of a death rictus.

Given the discomfort most of the actors appeared to feel it's not surprising that some of them chose to relieve the pressure by over- acting, at times violently.

Beneath all the theatrics and grimacing and numerous unnervingly extended pauses in dialogue as a number characters (or possibly it was the actors themselves) struggled for words, there may have been a message. I did feel the pain and sense of loss of the one character who, towards the end, repeatedly said he didn't know what to do and I could also understand the elation felt by those who had a metaphoric "ticket out of town."

It could charitably be described as a well-intended critical socio- theological story if somewhat confused and heavy-handed. Unfortunately all the antics, histrionics and bathos obscured the point they were attempting to make, rather generously assuming there was a point and that the actors knew what it was.

Lovely Movie, Very True to Life

[louisalhr · 10/10 · 27 March 2014]

This is the best movie ever!! I grew up in South Carolina, where the movie is set (graduated from high school in 1998), and this movie felt a little like stepping into my half-forgotten past - it was so closely observed. There's something thick about the atmosphere in the South that I grew up in, like you could cut it with a knife. That's captured in the movie.

I identified a lot with the three "wise kids," especially Brea. The movie's subject matter is weighty. Besides the coming-of-age theme, it takes on religious faith. One character in particular may be losing her religion, and the movie makes it clear that this will have implications not only for her personal religious faith but for her relationships with many of the important people in her life. The movie handles the subject in a way that feels honest and true to life. Another actress, Allison Torem, delivers an extremely strong and actually kind of intriguing performance as a devout teenager.

This is also a very watchable movie. They don't make many like this one. I'm so glad I stumbled across it!

Nothing happens

[marcuspessoa · 3/10 · 3 September 2013]

The movie is awful. There's no story developing. Nothing happens.

The "story" is set in a community of the Baptist Church. The problem is this: there's nothing interesting to tell about people with a common life, that are always in church and at home and at work talking and thinking about God. Characters thus only become interesting when there's a story that explores their conflicts.

The protagonists are: Tim, a gay guy, who keeps herself nonetheless Christian; Brea, a girl who loses her faith; and Austin, preacher of the church that also finds herself gay.

But even in these cases, there are no conflicts to be explored. Tim is fully supported by his father, also a Christian one -- which is quite unbelievable. The only ones who criticize are too young, and his father calls him "immature". He has no problems with his sexuality and remains the good and perfect Christian boy.

Brea finds himself an atheist but do not tell anyone, unless Tom. And Austin, although it's in crisis with their sexuality, also speaks just to Tom, and there is no consequence. Continues with his wife and being a preacher.

The most we see of Tim "being gay" is kissing Austin and he also a boy at a party.

In summary, nothing happens. And every little detail boring and uninteresting of life in the church is shown in an "epiphanic" and condescending mood.

Sometimes it seems that the movie is just religious propaganda.

Another "Christian" Film with no where to go but down

[robtaday · 1/10 · 22 August 2016]

Continuing with my "gay film festival" on Netflix this week, this is at least the third film of this genre that goes nowhere fast. The film is set in modern day South Carolina in a large, urban town. It concentrates on one particular congregation and the issues (mainly of a homosexual nature) that affect them, albeit in the closet. It claims to center on three high school seniors and the requisite angst of maturation. A lot is evident from the beginning, namely who is gay and who isn't. The boy of the trio of friends is one of those that everyone probably knows or at least suspects is gay; his mannerisms etc. give him away as does the "clue" that you can find these types in drama class, i.e. theater. In no time at all you figure that their drama/music director at church is gay too, although he has a voluptuous wife and a couple of kids. I get the idea that he was always gay and got married, etc. to try to fix it; I even suspect that may have gone through some kind of "conversion therapy." His wife knows it too and just how this marriage will survive is not much of a guess. Will he wait until the kids are grown? Will the wife finally confront him? The guy practically molests his teen-aged charge in the kid's own bedroom while a party goes on downstairs to give him an expensive gift. He obviously has a crush on the boy and the pent-up kid goes for it and then we think feels remorse. We think. Then there is the kid's single father who, as in a couple of films I have seen, is quite supportive of his son. I get the feeling that father is gay too and I think his son thinks so too. How we know the father knows is left a mystery except that a younger male sibling finds "material" on his brother's computer that spilled the beans and blabs to dad. Dad's reaction was apparently that it would take time for him to adjust to his older brother's gayness. The kid, however, never seems to troubled by everybody knowing he is gay and manages to smirk his way through the movie which is supposed to be so fraught with worry and indecision. This is a large town and we must assume many gays (the kids managed to take their adult atheist friend to a gay bar) who gets a phone number from a woman while boy makes out on the dance floor and nobody in the party seems to mind at all. I mean, how worried were they? Then the closeted church director ends up stalking the kid again and confesses that he too, thinks he is gay, and cries about it. In fact they both hug and cry about it. Why they did not end up in bed is beyond me. Then, you have the two girls who one would swear were closeted lesbians themselves but surprise! One turns out to admit to the others that she no longer believes in God but no big deal; we still think you are super. The other girl, who we are led to believe has a major crush on he BFF end up being the most devout and hooks up with a cute guy from college and we assume will lead a Christian life. At one point she has lunch with another woman - who - we don't know - but this woman professes her love for Christ and says she wants to go into ministry but the church frowns on women ministers. The younger girl lays her out for it and tell s her that is she wants to cherry pick from the Bible, then what good is the Bible? Very powerful and a welcomed moment in the film. Finally, someone with the courage to speak of for the faith. There is also a throwaway involving a young couple up for the position of youth pastor. At one point the frustrated wife of the closeted music director makes a play for the young youth pastor, who is so inexperienced, he really does not know how to handle the situation. he does not get the job.

In the end, the kids go off to their respective colleges, the boy and lost-her-faith girl to New York City. At Christmas Break they all come home. Boy's father asks if he has "met anyone"? The boy giddily says there might be one guy to which his father replies, that is real fine son. That father is gay!!!

As in may films with a Christian backdrop, this one too leaves you feeling that they find a way to marvelously blend their "faith" with their homosexuality - God is a kind God; God made me this way; God loves us all, etc. so people need to stop judging. Yawn. Who is judging? I see no evidence that the "whole town" would not have found out the kid was gay and yet, I saw no pushback or worry on the kid's face at all He grins through it all. The idea that in this day and age of gay liberation, that a teenager in a large town would not feel at home with his gayness is baffling. These kids have the internet and all and laws against bullying etc. There is a vast network of support for these kids and we are constantly told that their generation could care less. But this is a bout a religion and once again it is handled in a oh well, God will understand mode. And again, why are fathers portrayed now as more understanding than mothers when their boys come out? I think that is propaganda or wishful thinking on he part of these writers. I hate it.

Well Worth Seeing

[meaninglessbark · 9/10 · 25 March 2014]

The Wise Kids is an excellent exploration of faith and identity, a low key film that avoids the melodrama typical of films that address the subjects it does. It would probably be especially of interest to young adults who have grown up in a conservative Christian setting they no longer feel connected to in the way they once did.

The characters and situations are real enough that the film at times almost feels like a documentary. There are a few scenes that were uncomfortable to watch because of the almost goofy faith based happiness of the characters or characters attempting to connect with others but not having the social skills to pull it off.

Most movies dealing with questions of faith and sexuality resort to carefully written speeches of revelation to tell how their characters are feeling. The Wise Kids uses few words, quiet cues, and occasional flustered statements to reveal what's going on in the characters hearts and minds.

Another unusual thing about the Wise Kids is that no one of faith is portrayed as wrong in their views. It's also not a propaganda film in that no way of viewing life is shown as being better than the other.

My only caveat with the Wise Kids is though it's well worth seeing it's not particularly memorable. The film sort of feels like a pleasant weekend visiting your family, nice but it just blends in with other nice visits. Some of my lack of impression may have to do with my age. Though the Wise Kids isn't meant to be a young adult movie I know that had I seen this film in my 20s it would probably have been a film I'd have watched many times.

Real, Complex Christian Kids

[pspringstone1 · 9/10 · 27 April 2022]

It's a very artsy movie, which is a style I actually like, about Christian kids in a small town putting on a play. I'm from a small town, I grew up Christian, I liked plays...so I GET it. Dramarama (2020) brought me here, then I fell down a Stephen Cone hole. Give it a shot.