If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Another teen comedy-drama, precisely to say a coming-of-age theme based on the novel of the same name. It is not from the big production house, but the well known faces make it a worth a watch and their performances were too not bad. The tale of a teen tomboy girl Lucy, whose father visits home often who works in Canada and her mother is an easy going type. It's about a time for her sexual exploration and the first choice is her best buddy Kenny. But quickly the things around changes which forces her to opt the life she wants and what follows is how it all shapes up before bringing a curtain to the narration.I felt like wanting to give it a better rating, at least it deserves a decent respect, but narration had lots of up and down. That does not matter, even for how a tale begins, but the ending should have been a better one where I slightly disappointed with it. Sarah Bolger looked solid, totally one man show you could say. Maybe that is how the story was designed, but that did not stand a chance to impress me, because I thought it leaned excessively on her alone leaving other characters less developed. Anyway, it could also be said like this that it was her story which lacked the good support.It is not just a coming-of-age film, but when you look at how the story ends, that's kind of self-discovery. Maybe the girl was caught between the teenhood and adulthood, especially in the climax it leaped forward too long. The hardest part is the R rating for a teen film, though there were none nudes, even in the sex scenes, but the film topic itself highly influenced by those like experiencing and moving-on in the life. So the film is not worth going after for a watching by someone's recommendation, only when you get an opportunity without much options you could try it.5.5/10

This is at tops a TV movie designed for a Sunday afternoon when you have nothing better to do. It does stray along way from Pete Fromm's book which is considerably more intense and describes the falling apart of a family in greater detail than the film. The performances were OK, James Marsden and Claire Danes gave below par performances compared to their other work. Sarah Bolger carried the role of Lucy off nicely but for obvious reason didn't commit to the character 100%. For those interested it might be worth doing a search for a Matthew J. Clark short called 'Dry Rain' based on a short story by Pete Fromm.If you do enjoy the film it is very much worth reading the book which goes into many of the implied topics in the film in greater detail.

Sixteen-year-old Lucy (Sarah Bolger) is a tomboy. She gets on well with her father (James Marsden) but is frequently separated from him for months on end when he goes to work in Canada. Her relationship with her mother (Claire Danes) is easy-going and she takes care of most things around the house. She tunes into her sexuality and her not so 'stable' family dynamics. She develops a relationship with her best friend Kenny (Thomas Mann) and starts to realize that her parents' marriage is not as solid as she had previously imagined. She notices that her father's extended stays away from the family are not typical, and that her mother does not pine for her father as much as she herself does.After watching this movie, I feel like Sarah Bolger is a naturally talented actress. She can hold your attention the entire time she's on screen. The rest of the actors are all fine. This is a small compelling chapter in a young girl's life. Lucy doesn't shun the mainstream stereotypical look of girls, as much as she naturally develops into her own person with her own traits. She realizes that she doesn't have a 'stable' family per se and that she may be the only adult in her family. The parents, their actions, struggles, the guys at school, her falling in mutual love with the one person she knows she can trust outside of her family, her love for cooking, everything is quite realistic and a little depressing at times.Most of the characters are nuanced and as the story progresses, their outbursts come naturally. Each one is given enough time and material to let their personalities come through. Their actions aren't glorified, but neither are they demonized. It just comes off as understandable. Rape is one thing I simply cannot stand and Lucy should have made a complaint to make the boy pay, but we have seen/heard of that course of inaction a lot of times in real life. Her father telling the story of a mutilated saint just came off as ignorant of reality, but also highlighted his upbringing and the guilt he felt for having a child at such a young age. After Roger Ebert's passing, there's only one critic that I trust. He hasn't reviewed this movie, but I fail to understand the disdain and vitriol spewed against this charming coming of age tale by most of the other self-anointed 'critics'. This isn't a path-breaking tale, but it doesn't mean it doesn't have its own appeal.6.5/10

"If memory is malleable then the future is too." Lucy is a sixteen year old girl who is too smart for her own good. She spends her free time learning how to cook and hanging out with her friend Kenny. Her mother (Danes) and father (Marsden) had her when they were young and not ready for that responsibility. Now with her dad gone all but 4 times a year and her mom acting like a kid herself Lucy is left to discover life for herself. This is a movie that again proves my point that a movie can be entertaining and worth watching involving great acting rather then special effects. This is a movie along the line of What Maisie Knew only involving an older child rather then a 6 year old. Parents that should not have been allowed to have children and a child who is more mature then the parents. You really root for Lucy the entire time and by the time the end come you feel extremely sorry for her as well as relief. That is a hard combination to achieve but that's what great writing and acting does. Overall, a great movie that is pretty depressing but I recommend this. I give it a B+.