Wow, I'm actually surprised. I did not expect this movie to be so good since it isn't very known, hard to find, and seems to be of a low budget. I think I'm going to do some research and buy the DVD. Like all the other reviews say, the characters are very realistic. The acting is awesome. I definitely recommend this one.

How does this movie hold a 7.5 rating?! I spent most of the film cringing, groaning and giggling at inappropriate times. I feel like I could catch glimpses of what this film was trying to be, which was something rawer, something more profound. But most of the time it was like a TV movie on cough syrup. Why the Gilliam-esque angles? Why the horrible lighting? The score was ALL OVER THE PLACE and really out of touch with what was happening in the scene. Everything was overdone. The acting was terrible and cliché. Why do I care about any of these people? I was very confused as to whether this movie was trying to be serious or not. A vanity project. Try Harmony Korine or Todd Solondz if you want something like this, but better.

I love this movie! It seems so real with the bullying, the four close friends, the random cursing, and the different family lives. The main reason I love Indie films is because it shows the viewpoint of real life in a society of 'normal' individuals and this movie depicts it 100% in an era when bullying is becoming prevalent. The way the director portrays the main characters is brilliant and the angles of the camera is so realistic. When you think about it, you know someone in your childhood who is one of the characters in this film. I would definitely watch another film directed by this director. I recommend this movie 100 times. Enjoy!

Michael Cuesta's TWELVE AND HOLDING is one of the most honest and most bittersweet films about growing up that I can think of. It details the lives and the minds of children with startling honesty and sweet simplicity. It is one of the few films I can say I've seen that treats it's subject matter in a very mature and brave way. It is sweet, sad, disturbing, funny, and all too real.The film details the affected lives of three children having difficulty recovering from the death of a close friend of theirs. Jacob(Conor Donovan) is the twin brother of Rudy, the boy who was killed. Jacob must deal with the guilt as well as the grief of his parents and of the accidental murderers. Leonard and Malee are close friends of Jacob. Malee falls in love with an ex-firefighter, Gus(Jeremy Renner), she meets at Rudy's funeral and subsequently tries to seduce him. Leonard suffers an injury as a result of the accident that killed Rudy and now has no ability to taste his food and uses it to his advantage to lose weight, despite the attitude of his parents.While the film occasionally drifts a tiny bit into cliché territory, this is a hard hitting and truly shattering experience. This is only Michael Cuesta's second film(his first being one of my personal favorites, L.I.E.) and yet he continues to surprise me with the overwhelming sense of clarity to be found in his films. TWELVE AND HOLDING is a startling reminder of the creativity and imagination to be found in the minds of today's independent filmmakers. The characters in this film are all so beautiful and so terrifying at the same time, particularly the characters of Gus and of Jacob. Very few of the characters are two-dimensional and they all are flawed in ways that make sense and that don't necessarily make them bad people. However, bad things come out of the mistakes of the characters. The ways in which the events are depicted are simply unforgettable. I've said too much already. Just see this film.