Giant Little Ones

This is not so much a coming of age story as a coming of sexual orientation story. Josh Wiggins (Max, Mean Dreams, Walking Out) is the youthful star of this film who, as Franky, turns 17 (he's actually going to be 21) and is best friends with Ballas (played by Darren Mann - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - whose age in film is supposed to be near the same, though he is either 29 or 30 depending upon the source). Both are in High School and on the swim team. One night after carousing and barely escaping the wrath of some older boys who were teasing them about their sexuality, the two wind up in bed together in Franky's home. This is totally unexpected and rather confusing. The suddenness of this activity catches the viewer totally off guard and gives the film a very disjointed feeling. What happens next leads to a major falling out between the two as a well as a physical confrontation that leaves Franky quite banged up. Ballas has needlessly "outed" Franky to his girl friend and others despite the fact that Franky may not even be gay and may not have even been the one to initiate or do whatever supposedly happened. And here is a major problem with this movie. Things do not happen gradually; there is no sensible transition; and the timing of what purportedly happened is so sudden and shrouded literally in darkness that the viewer is left to wonder what actually happened, who did what to whom, and why did Ballas later do what he did to Franky. And that is only one of several reasons why I gave this film only 4 stars despite some uniformly excellent acting and a promising story line whose ending left things up for grabs.As things evolve, Franky becomes close to Ballas's sister who is sympathetic to him because she not only knows him very well but also that of the past behavioral pattern of her brother in other situations. Meanwhile, Franky, who has been alienated from his father, Ray (played by Kyle MacLachlan), who left his mother (played by Maria Bello) for another man begins to seek and interact with his father. The need to regain his equilibrium forces Franky to engage his father for advice. As their relationship continues to move in a positive direction, Ray helps to smooth things over for Franky and makes a most significant observation. He tells Franky that he and Ballas had been lifetime close friends since early childhood and sometimes it is possible to have sex with someone you love even if it is the same gender without being oriented that way (shades of the movie The Last Straight Man). This revelation leads to the film's climactic ending, but it is too abrupt. (Possible Spoiler Alert!) I couldn't help but think of another story with an abrupt ending - "The Lady or the Tiger?" However, that was for a most different effect. This one was more like - "his boyfriend or his boyfriend's sister...or?" Your choice.

Giant Little Ones (the odd title is never explained) starts out like it's about straight teenage boys -- making out with girls, bragging about "doing it", and other crap I don't want to see or hear. I almost turned it off, figuring the only thing gay about it was going to be the side story about a father who ran off with another man.Then, after it took a gay turn, it seemed to be showing that homophobia is even worse in Canada than it is here, which could have been great (I'm tired of hearing that Canada is so much better and more progressive than the US) if it hadn't been so brutally upsetting that I had to skip over some of it.Finally, about halfway through, it turned out to be something completely different, not like any other movie I have ever seen, and everything about it is excellent.It's the story of lifelong best friends Franky and Ballas (where they got that name is beyond me, but it's highly distracting, and it's my only major complaint about the movie) who do everything together and obviously care a lot about each other. They both have affluent and supportive families (Franky's dad is the gay one, but he's still actively involved with his kids and his ex-wife) and go to an affluent, suburban and evidently all-white public high school in Ontario (filmed in Sault Ste Marie, but that's probably irrelevant). They're both good-looking, smart, popular, and on the school's swim team. They both have attractive, popular girlfriends, although Ballas is the one who brags about what he does with his.During a very drunken sleepover after Franky's birthday party, Ballas gives Franky a bj (shown only as moving covers on a bed in the dark with sound effects). Afterward Ballas is terrified, so he preemptively tells his girlfriend (and therefore the whole school) that he woke up with Franky giving HIM the bj. Some already-hinted-at homophobia at school breaks out of the closet (especially, and predictably, on the swim team), and Ballas leads an unbelievably cruel, prolonged and relentless verbal and physical attack on Franky. The fact that they'd been so close is what makes Ballas's cruelty so extraordinarily hard to watch.What sets this movie apart from and above every other movie about teenage coming-out is the amazing but entirely believable way Franky deals with what happens. I won't say any more, but this is far and away the best such movie I have ever seen (I've seen them all) or anyone else will see in several lifetimes.Franky is an amazing and completely original character, and Josh Wiggins, the actor who plays him, cannot be praised highly enough. I've never been a Kyle MacLachlan fan, but he's perfect as Franky's dad, as are Maria Bello as his mom and Darren Mann as Ballas. There are no weak performances in the movie, and the screenplay and direction are perfect as well.Even the brutal homophobia (which I'm sick of seeing in movies) is essential and never gratuitous, and it is totally transformed by Franky's amazing and transcendent -- and yet completely believable -- response to it. Very, very, VERY highly recommended.

Unsentimental and smart portrayal of what happens in your upper middle class suburb when your alpha bff and high school swim teammate gets wasted one night and goes down on you, and you're pretty much ok with it but he can't deal with it. No maudlin cliches here, no soft core exploitation. The boys (20-ish performers playing 16 - 17) are preternaturally beautiful and very good actors, and that is enough -- intelligent suggestions of sex, locker room nudity, etc keep us in the story, and serve to evoke in us a sense of the reality of lust and sexual tension better than any literal exhibition of their flesh, or graphic erotic simulations ever could -- while at the same time the film is not at all coy about the fact that it is about the vagaries of adolescent attraction, both physical and emotional. It's kind of like an extended DeGrassi episode minus the lovable stupidity, and with a high degree of realism. This is evolved, aware film making -- not epic in scale like BROKEBACK, it only plays a few notes, but plays them very well. The actors never fail us -- the leads as well as those playing the parents and siblings, who thankfully are fully realized and have their own individual character arcs. Josh Wiggins in the lead, suggests a mix of young DiCaprio and young Matt Damon in looks, skill, vulnerability and honesty. Darren Mann as his troubled friend alternately broods and explodes like a young Brando. The two convey a deep, unexamined connection, fueling the action of the piece. A seasoned Kyle MacLachlan as an estranged gay dad mines subtle acting gold from an almost too-saintly deus ex machina voice of reason role. Everybody is good in this, without exception. All that and a comic nonbinary pal struggling to find the perfect prosthetic to stuff in their pants . . .

The film was lovely when it skipped past the multiple damaged areas on the dvd

商品の到着は早かったんですが、カラカラ音がして開けてみると爪の部分が割れていました。なんだか残念でした。

I was happy with my purchase and it was quick.

Excellent movie

This is about a friendship/bromance turned sour after violent taunting by swim team and classmates forces the two protagonists to prove their heterosexuality by dating girls and picking violent fights with each other. In one sense, it is excruciating to sit through yet another story about violent homophobia and being in the closet, moreover the relationship between the pair remains unresolved at the end, however the families are supportive as are the institutional structures supporting the boys. It is really well acted with strong performances throughout, well produced, effective music score, and I watched it in one sitting as I got caught up in the story.Provided you can tolerate 90 minutes of self-denial, sporadic violence and homophobia, I can recommend this movie for the redemptive story it tells and the way it tells it.