One of the worst movies I've seen this year. The story is terrible: a mother raising his son in the worst way. The movie wants to depict the mother character as strong and independent but it fails completely. I really don't know what the director wanted to say but it shows his characters as completely ignorant, lazy and stupid. A father abandoning his family and the mother does nothing with her life but complaint. And it's not like she's alone, she has the support of her father in law but she prefers doing nothing. Instead she is lazy and dirty, she doesn't clean the house or work for money they need. She prefers to be a bum and grow weed. That's supposed to be the heroin of the movie. The child character is unlikable (and a terrible actor just to add to the mix). He has nine years but looks like eleven. His behavior is like a little kindergarten boy. Out of the blue he decides to destroy things giving no explanation. That's where the movie fails. We never know the motives of the characters doings. Why do they act like that? The grandma is under develop and there are some parts of the story that are not well done like the marijuana medicine or the pig story. And the worst part is that it ends like it began, with nothing, no conclusion. Horrible movie, avoid it.
... View MoreThis is quite possibly the worst film I've ever seen. The visual appeal and the attention paid to the technical aspects of filmmaking by the director were not sufficient to overcome the poor storytelling and unlikable, if not downright hateworthy, characters. This is a movie that thinks far too much of itself and presents a specific point of view in the most ham-handed of ways. We are to believe that the "protagonist's" endless stream of poor choices, which include murdering her son's pet pig, are merely the best she can do with what she has. The only saving grace of her act of porcicide is that the poor animal would have eventually met a brutal demise at the hands of the reprehensible monster to which she gave birth. It is never really clear how much the marijuana brownies factor into the child's behavior, but it doesn't matter. Regardless of the driving forces behind the son's destructive and murderous rampages I could not bring myself to sympathize with him. I sympathized with his mother much less. The director would have us believe that the mother and son are the good guys, while men are completely patronizing jerks who are unreliable and will only disappoint you and traditional medicine is a pharmacentric racket that is perfectly fine with making zombies of children. I feel for those who can relate or empathize with the supposed heroine because of their own life experiences. They are the only audience who can possibly find any redeeming value in this film.Everyone else should steer clear.
... View MoreI really thought I would like this movie, but I didn't. The mother and son characters are very unlikable. Each had his own challenges and I kept waiting for them to start to overcome them. Lordy. Painful to watch a terrible, lazy, inept mother raise a completely thoughtless, undisciplined son. Just because you're poor doesn't have to mean you're filthy and stupid. Where was this mother's effort to earn money in a meaningful way. Or to raise a child in a happy but at least minimally structured way? Utter fail. Very little redeeming values to the characters. I thought this was supposed to be about a strong mother? Don't bother with this one. It will leave you frustrated.
... View MoreI watched this film, with a friend, at the Dallas International Film Festival premiere. I read the outline of the story and it seemed to be something I would like. The short of it was I didn't care for it at all.The film itself was good the picture and sound. The music was a bit over done like a Hallmark movie. The actors were good except a couple, and I always hate to hear bad Texas accents. But all of that stuff was okay. There is some animation that doesn't seem to fit, but it is interesting to watch. There is, however, a bunch of stuff that just doesn't add up or make sense.The part that really didn't work for me was the story, and or I guess I should say the script. After the film was over people where hoop'n and yelp'n about how deep and how it was such a love story. Just like on reviews I have read, but I see two common differences between them and me. First, they are 20-30 something men, and second they aren't in the health care profession.I am not a movie professional, but I love movies and I am the middle American that watches them. So I guess I am an expert to some degree, at least I am an expert on what I like. The movie is irresponsible about the medical implications, and the character is just sort of stupid and does nothing to show the empowerment of woman. Of course, written by a male. And a young one at that, it comes through in the story being a yawn and a who cares.Being a mother of 4 and a nurse (who has experience with both medical marijuana and the condition) the film is just not good. It is like it is trying to fabricate emotion, and it just doesn't get it. Like an artsy director doing a Lifetime movie. You can't fake heart. People were going on an on about unconditional love and how powerful, I saw nothing like that. I saw a stupid lazy little girl with a kid that she had no business taking care of. It must be a generational thing of if I say it enough it will be true, rather than being smart enough to actually do something.Sorry if this seems so negative, but as a mother it really makes me sick. Unconditional love is working double shifts and getting your life together. It annoyed me so greatly I had to look at what people were saying and after reading other reviews (which seem like they are biased and probably friend of the director) I felt I should give some of the other side's view.
... View More