Told in longish static shots (for the most part) this is the story of two brothers who deal with the angst of being a kid. We watch as they fool around, go swimming, wrestle, deal with feelings and all of the usual kids stuff. We also deal with the ripples that are felt one one of their number dies in a fall from an old railroad bridge.
Full of carefully composed shots (many of which seemed to echo Stand By Me) and full of silences and people of all ages trying to make sense of life this is a deep and meaningful film which left me rather cold. Little happens other than we watch people deal with some weighty issues. I kept wanting to ask "and you're telling me this this way because...?"
Part of the problem with the film is that some things don't quite mesh. There is a scene where the brothers and their parents are sitting around talking about the dead boy and we hear someone is crying...but no one in the close ups is. There is also a weird disconnect as to the time frame that the story takes place. How many days pass? It's not clear.
Personally I found the film to be one of the very major misses up to the point I saw it (it was the 19th film I saw ) On the other hand Peter and some others were moved by it. The choice is yours.
Steve, you are dead on here. This film went absolutely nowhere, was a major bore and had many people leaving the CCC theater shaking their heads. I had very high hopes for this, but like that abominable BIRDER'S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING it was stagnant.
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