I consider this film something of a hidden gem; It has an endearing charm, one which i find slightly criminal given its poor reception and box office success. The real draw to 'Ashby' for me personally is Mickey Rourke's performance, and its place within his filmography. To me, it proves his ability to act has endured, past 'The Wrestler' - a film in which many naysayers would believe to be his last good role. This in itself gives the film an added value that cannot be tarnished (not even by Rourke's behaviour in his personal life). Furthermore, Emma Roberts and Nat Wolff are not without their charm; solidifying the strength of the cast. However, the film is not without their flaws. Stylistically, the film is slightly underwhelming - a majority of the shots being bland and straightforward. The humour is also somewhat strange and executed in a peculiar manner, but this is perhaps to be expected, given the generally quirky nature of Wolff's characters. In the end, these are all flaws to be tolerated, and the value that lies within this film is a greater in comparison. Again, If nothing else it is truly a sight to behold for all devoted fans of Rourke's.

I started watching this movie not expecting much, and got something unique for my efforts. While the story seems a little dated, the acting is actually quite good. Emma Roberts and Sara Silverman do excellent jobs in their supporting roles, while Mickey Rourke steals pretty much every scene he is in. It all makes for a pretty good watch.What this is not is a movie about a spy. This is a movie about a kid (Nat Wolff) who needs a little old-school guidance to grow up, and gets it in spades when he makes himself a part of Ashby's (Rourke) life. This will not be one of those movies that people talk about in 20 years, but it does its job for today, so if you can't figure out what to watch tonight, giver it a shot. You might be surprised.8/10 - Because the movie has heart, with a hint of attitude, yet doesn't trip over itself with the spy angle like most of these kinds of films would.

To Filmmakers: Unless your life is in some godforsaken third world violent hellhole run by a moronic dictator who wears those ridiculous gym teacher shorts I can't imagine anything less like life than the game of football so please stop, just stop trying to make that connection.I just needed to get that out of the way first thing. Other than that I sort of liked the movie during the part that I didn't like it. Mickey Rourke and Sarah Silverman were both fun to watch, the kid not so much. He's likable enough but his role was all over the place. I never got a sense of who he really was. Was he the awkward outsider or the cool kid? The film used that ambiguity as a tool but I don't think it was very satisfying, at least not for me.Maybe there were just a few too many issues to deal with in a little high school comedy, or whatever this was. Let's just count them all up: new kid in town, dad issues, hit-man next door neighbor, mom's a slut, cutie from school likes him but for some reason he doesn't like her much, and then the football crap. I'm getting a headache just listing them. Leave out two of these and the film would have been significantly more fun.

This movie is bad. Really bad. The story is such a nonsense and absurdous at times. Cliché after cliché. The high school football drama and "love" story are nauseating. The acting is really bad, except Mickey Rourke.I mean, every single actor in this movie put out a dismal performance including Nat Wolff. Ed's character is so unlikable and annoying that I wanted to stop watching several times. I have not seen Nat Wolff before, but in this movie he was unbelievably bad. Absolutely no chemistry between Ed and Ashby. The priest' and mother' characters are either a joke or insults to one's intelligence. The funeral scene in the end of the movie completed its awfulness. Mickey Rourke was the only reason I finished watching this movie. His acting was great. But he did not save this peace of crap.