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Release Date: May 18th, 2007 (Village East Cinemas) by Pilgrim 7 Corporation. The Cast: Adam LaVorgna, Ronnie Farer, Baird Wallace, March Richard Keith, Diane Kagan, Susan Porro, Casey Siemaszko. Directed by Matthew Levin. BASIC PREMISE: Steve (LaVorgna), a 16-year-old pychotic boy, escapes a mental institution to blame and curse out his mother, Adelle (Farer), for being neglectful and irresponsible. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: The Boy Who Cried Bitch: The Adolescent Years has so much intense drama that it occasionally feels exaggerated, overwhelming and tedious. Steve leaves his second mental institution just to spend time with his family in Thanksgiving. When his mom forces him to return, he goes ballistic and ends up participating in a rape, which sends him back to a mental hospital. He manages to escape from it despite that it has “maximum security”, which seems ludicrous. Now, he’s more threatening and dangerous than ever. He even manages to buy gun from a shop, which feels chilling, especially given the real-world events regarding the similarly psychotic, deranged Seung-Hui Cho, who also managed to easily purchase a gun. Between him and his two younger brothers, Mitch (Wallace) and Jody (Keith), 14-year old Jody is the only likable character one who stays away from drugs and violence. Ronnie Farer gives an over-the-top performance here as Adelle, which is much more convincing than Adam LaVorgna’s performance as Steve—he’s even doesn’t seem believable even when he repeatedly calls her “bitch” and a “stupid piece of shit”. On that note, screenwriter Catherine May Levin does a great job of making Steve into a completely despicable, mean person, as if he were possessed by the devil. Some of the dialogue, admittedly, feels a bit stilted and awkward. Director Matthew Levin includes crisp, smooth cinematography that won’t make you feel nauseous. However, the excessive use of fades-to-black gets distracting while the frequent skipping in time, sometimes months or years, leaves some plot holes. By the third act, you’ll want everyone in that family, except Jody and the grandma (Kagan), to check into a mental institution. SPIRITUAL VALUE: In many ways, Adelle has created a monster, so-to-speak, out of Steve by not paying attention to him during his childhood and failing to guide him on the right path. This leads to the issue of nature versus nurture. The way children are brought up certainly how they behave for the rest of their lives, but, at the same time, some people might be uncontrollable. Insterestingly, when “monstrous” Steve blames his mother for his psychotic condition, it’s just like when the monster ultimately turned against his own creator, Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley’s classic story, Frankenstein. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Occasionally stilted, over-the-top and tedious. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 3 IN A NUTSHELL: Intense and chilling, but occasionally stilted, over-the-top and tedious. RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: DVD Main Page Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu The "B" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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