Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

3xHCCH You will not really get the whole story of this film by its title, nor by the poster. It was good that I saw this film without any idea what this was all about, not even what genre it was. I thought it was a romantic comedy. It was not exactly one. Once the film started, I thought I would not like it. But as it went along, I was pulled in, all the way to its end. This is one good little film that deserves more attention.Put simply, the story of "Straight As" is about how the lives of the Henderson family was affected when long-estranged Scott (Ryan Philippe) makes a surprise return, supposedly because their late mother had convinced him to. His sister-in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) is flustered by Scott's unwelcome visit right when his brother William (Luke Wilson) was out of town on business. But it was with his nephew Charles and niece Gracie that Scott made his biggest connections. However, with his foul language, cigarettes and drugs, will Scott ever be welcomed back by the family he left more than ten years ago?The actors of this film worked very well. I loved that the acting in this film is very understated and restrained There were no big hyper- dramatic scenes as family melodrama are mostly prone to having. I have not seen Ryan Philippe act in a lead role for a long time. His career had never really recovered since he and Reese Witherspoon broke up. He was outside his usual zone playing the black sheep of the family. I believed he played the multiple levels of his complex character very well.I had not seen Anna Paquin act in a straight dramatic role ever since she won the Oscar as a precocious child in "The Piano"! It was a welcome break from notable recent roles with supernatural powers. I liked her subtle attack on a role which could have been a showcase of histrionics in a lesser actress.Luke Wilson's role was rather right up his old alley, but it was good to see him in a dramatic role. The actors who played the two kids, Riley Thomas Stewart and Ursula Parker, were both very cute, natural and moving. Powers Boothe, who played the Henderson patriarch, also had his shining moments.I liked how the whole story unfolded. Yes, the story elements were all soap opera staples, but they way they were woven together by director James Cox was interesting and involving. The musical score and the songs were all very emotionally apt to the scenes they accompanied. The cinematographer liked to play with lights and glare, which were good. As a whole, the unheralded film was a pleasant surprise which more people should know about. 7/10.

SnoopyStyle Family black sheep Scott (Ryan Phillippe) comes home on a horse. His brother William (Luke Wilson) is away on business. His sister in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) was his high school sweetheart. William and Katherine have two kids, but their marriage is a shell. Scott's father (Powers Boothe) is suffering from dementia.There is a little heat coming from Phillippe and Paquin. It's too bad that Wilson is away from home for most of the movie. The small amount of heat is never nurtured to bring on any fire. This movie moves at a snail's pace. Obviously the little boy has problems. Scott is completely inappropriate. It had promise, but no follow through.

OJT Maybe I was expecting too much, but "Straight A's" is a low budget film with several problems. The plot is OK, but technically this film is quite amateurish. The acting is not top notch either, and Ryan Philippe's worst film so far. Besides that this is a film filled with really disgusting men, which all sweets up in the end.I immediately reacted to the bad opening family film-music, the childish writing and then the staged opening with the cowboy riding in from the sun in slow motion. Then the meeting with the strange kids rather bad monologue when he is talking in a narrative setting. Then I reacted equally negative to the voices which seemed so artificial that I thought it was put on after-wards, after being read in a studio. Then I thought th cutting was amateurish. What a bad start! After 10 minutes I reacted negatively to the music, and then the supposedly cute kids, which are acting forced.But some way along the little boy Charles is really starting to charm up. He's really doing his best, showing some talent when the film has passed the hour.The plot is not bad, but everything in it is quite badly executed. Director James Cox is not up to it, and the writing by David Cle is also under average. You won't be sorry if you leave this on the shelf, or stop watching after the first minutes.

matt-sickle I watched this movie with a grain of salt, due to all the negative reviews here on IMDb. I was expecting nothing and just killin' some time.I had to come back to the reviews here to double check that the negative reviews were actually for this movie.This was an excellent movie. The story is superb, like a really good short story I didn't notice the time and it was over before I realized it.I don't know if people were expecting something like True Blood or maybe reacting to some of the character's behaviors they didn't like or what. But let me tell you what, this is one well made, well acted and well directed movie. The filming and "artful" effects are done in just enough of a way that really tied it together as well.I was genuinely surprised that I had not heard of this movie before. I just came across it on Netflix at random.My conclusion is: it is a very interesting story that I found to be far more real and interesting than the last 30 big Hollywood movies I have seen... Maybe more.