| Plot Synopsis In this independent coming-of-age drama, David (Eben Gordon) is a 16-year-old boy living in New Jersey, who has been forced to grow up in a hurry. David's father, Jack (James Earley), has decided to leave Katie (Juanita Walsh), his wife, and David's mother. Katie, who has long had a problem with alcohol, quickly sinks deep into drink, and as his siblings distance themselves from the situation, David finds himself taking care of his mother and running the household. David has an interest in acting, and in an effort to escape from his troubles at home, he immerses himself in his school's theater program. David begins to bond with Kenny (Rob Moretti), his drama teacher, but he soon realizes that Kenny's greatest interest in him is sexual. While David feels no physical attraction to men, he succumbs to pressure from Kenny and finds himself in a relationship with his teacher. Desperate to blot out the troubling emotions that envelop him, David begins drinking and using drugs, with unhappy results. Crutch was the first feature film from Rob Moretti, who wrote and directed the picture, also playing Kenny. - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide Reviews IDA IBRICEVIC TheCinemaSource.com Movie Grade: B+ Crutch (Nominated for Best Picture, Best Indie Film, and the Gay Press Award), a film by Rob Moretti, is an unsweetened taste of the acting world as experienced by a member of today's morbid adolescence. Crutch is based on Moretti's real life which is translated into the character of David Grey and his meandering venture into self discovery, with his teacher to lead the way. This tour of one teenage boy's life within his troubled family was like looking under a scab that can't seem to heal. This independent film shows us that for some of us acting is the only way to stop pretending. David, (played by Eben Gordon), delivers a powerful performance as an emotionally worn teenager struggling to cope with his family's dysfunctional suburban lives. This erratic environment coupled with self-doubt causes him to feverishly seek out escapism. David is a conflicted character that is exploited as his family's "crutch" as he tries to deconstruct himself in order to better reconstruct his existence. But, as "they" say, out of chaos comes order, and out of order spawns chaos. David is the ultimate sweet boy-next-door nestling his innocent girlfriend, until he experiments with new things. Only when David joins an acting class does he tap into his true nature. David is gradually more and more attracted to and gently seduced by his supportive acting teacher Kenny (played by directorRob Moretti). Perhaps Kenny "didn't mean to intrude" upon David, but he did. Furthermore, if David left himself open as such a willing receptor, is it really an intrusion or a passive aggressive invitation? In Crutch, we see a student/teacher symbiosis of two energies that feed off of one another like hungry, lost beings. From this film we learn that in order to turn into someone else you first have to stand naked in front of a jury... your insecurities upon the faces of your audience. In David's tumultuous union with his loved ones, love eventually spawns hate, since he loves those whom hate themselves. Every member of his family is self-loathing and self-destructive, especially his mother. Certain scenes had very dynamic uses of light and composition within their environment. I noticed a load of classic textbook shots and space designs. In the sense of visual originality, I have to say that I wasn't blown away. The score was nicely selected for the most part, although a few scenes were a bit off in their coordination with their musical background. However, those elements aside, emotion is never lacking. The acting is the strongest point within this film. The acting is incredibly sensitive and delicately expressed. The acting is so organic that it feels improvised rather than scripted. Real pain and vulnerability takes place behind closed doors with our arms wrapped tightly around a down-feather pillow. In this aware film we witness that true pain and anguish are private. We will never see our Abercrombie-wearing neighbor rocking back and forth in unbearable confusion and sorrow... but they do. The way that sexuality is explored throughout this film begs a few inquiries. I watched this film with two heterosexual male friends of mine, and it was as though they were learning. Sexuality is not something that you can shop for, it is something that you're endowed with and grow into... whatever it may reveal itself to be at whatever stage in your life. It's true... life is what happens when everything you know is wrong and your plans fall to pieces. In David's case, his life truly seems to begin with the deteriation of his family. The day you know yourself is the day you realize you know nothing. That is one of the underlying messages. In this film we see the repercussions David experiences as the result of acting as a cast for all the broken people that surround him. We also observe how lust, betrayal, obsession, and desperation form a mechanism that will push one to incredible heights and then plummet one to surrealistic lows. A crutch, if leaned on hard enough, will break. ANITA GATES New York Times September 17, 2004, Friday Everybody in David's life is an idiot except David (Eben Gordon) himself, a good-looking 16-year-old in suburban New Jersey. When his parents separate, his mother, Katie (Juanita Walsh), takes to alcohol in a big way. She is soon admitted to a rehab center after receiving 27 stitches in her chin from a fall she was too drunk to feel. David's brother and sister don't want to deal with Mom now that she's a mental invalid, so they just don't. The burden falls on David. You would think that someone would be on his side and listen to his troubles. For a while, that person is the gorgeous new drama teacher, Kenny (Rob Moretti), but it turns out that Kenny just wants sex. This is something David, who is as straight as an arrow (well, he has a girlfriend), has never thought of, especially not with a man in his 30's. But David falls into a relationship with the older man, which leads directly to his drug problems. And Kenny isn't even gracious enough to be happy for David when he gets the first movie role he auditions for. At least that's how David sees it. Mr. Moretti, who wrote and directed this self-conscious but nicely structured drama, has made it very clear that David is his alter ego and that these things really happened to him. Moviegoers could probably guess that; the film has the feel of being told because it happened, not because the meaning gleaned from it needed to be expressed. ''Crutch'' doesn't have the texture or power of ''Blue Car,'' Karen Moncrieff's 2002 film with Agnes Bruckner as the neglected, emotionally needy teenager and David Strathairn as the high school poetry teacher who takes advantage. |
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| CRUTCH 2004 - USA - 90min. - Feature, Color Director -Rob Moretti |
| Flags -Adult Situations, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs) Keywords -alcoholism, homosexual, marriage-problems, sibling, teenagers, coming-of-age, drug-addiction, acting Themes -Dangerous Attraction, Families in Crisis, Suburban Dysfunction, Alcoholism Tones -Forceful, Grim, Reflective, Moody Moods -In a Minor Key Produced by -HP Productions Release -Sep 17, 2004 (USA - Limited) Released by -Illuminare Entertainment DVD Street Date - Jun 28, 2005 Languages - English Sound - Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Studio - Ardustry Home Entertainment Features - Non Specified Cast Eben Gordon -- David Rob Moretti -- Kenny Juanita Walsh -- Katie Jennifer Laine Williams -- Julia Jennifer J. Katz -- Maryann James Earley -- Jack Robert Bray -- Michael Laura O'Reilly -- Lisa Tim Loftus -- Zac Sylvia Norman -- Linda Frankie R. Faison - Jerry |
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