Paul Alexander This is at tops a TV movie designed for a Sunday afternoon when you have nothing better to do. It does stray along way from Pete Fromm's book which is considerably more intense and describes the falling apart of a family in greater detail than the film. The performances were OK, James Marsden and Claire Danes gave below par performances compared to their other work. Sarah Bolger carried the role of Lucy off nicely but for obvious reason didn't commit to the character 100%. For those interested it might be worth doing a search for a Matthew J. Clark short called 'Dry Rain' based on a short story by Pete Fromm.If you do enjoy the film it is very much worth reading the book which goes into many of the implied topics in the film in greater detail.

jgunn316 OK, first let me start by saying I adore both Claire Danes and James Marsden (usually) so I was excited to watch this film, hoping for a cute and funny story that I could relate to (being a teen mom myself, who now has teenage children). What a disappointment! This movie is not funny at all. Never once did I laugh or even chuckle. Why it's labeled a comedy is a mystery to me. Furthermore, and I'm not giving anything away here, but the ending was abrupt and heartbreaking, and left me in tears! I seriously wish I could get the $1.20 I wasted on this film refunded from Redbox and rewind the clock and use that wasted time doing anything else. If you are in the mood for something funny, steer clear of this tragedy.

callanvass Lucy Diamond has to deal with a very dysfunctional family. She only sees her Dad a few times per year, thanks to his lumberjack duties. Her mother does the best that she can, but she's in disarray. Her best friend is a guy, Kenny. Lucy & Kenny fall for each other during the summer. When school starts, things begin to get increasingly difficult when Lucy starts exploring sex and alcohol, while everyone she cares about seems to abandon her in time of need. Meanwhile, Lucy's mother Lainee can't cope very well with her husband's constant time away and resorts to sleeping with other guys to try to alleviate her suffering. 5.8? Are you kidding me? This is a genuine piece of film making with the best intentions in mind for everyone. Not only is it very realistic for the most part, but the strength of the character development in this film is top-notch. You are able to sympathize with everyone in this film in some shape or form. Even when I didn't agree with a character's decision or their attitude, I was still able to get into their plights. I thought it was a very good look at not only teenage angst, but parenting as well. The issues between Lainee (The Mom) , & Chuck (The Dad) is all too real. Far too often do things go awry when you have a child at such a young age. You start to pine for your glory years after a while, forgetting about the things that are most important. We all deal with things in different ways. I've heard people talk about how predictable this movie is. They're correct about that, but predictability isn't always a bad thing, now, is it? Claire Danes is terrific as the complex mother. There were times I couldn't stand her and others where I absolutely adored her, but when all is said and done, it's impossible not to feel something for her character. As good as Claire Danes is, the best performance in this movie belongs to Sarah Bolger. She is absolutely phenomenal for her age, conveying many emotions to perfection. She has a lot of screen time and she is easily up to the task. I was very impressed by her. James Mardsen is excellent as the father with pent-up frustration and repressed anger. it isn't that easy to sympathize with him, but if you look hard enough, you should be able too. My only complaint about this movie is that the second half gets a bit convoluted. After a near perfect first half, things get a little haywire with too many loose ends. I didn't like the ending at all. It is ambitious, but it fails to make much sense and left me feeling somewhat deflated after such a powerful experience for most of the movie. Final Thoughts: This is one of the most underrated films of 2013. Sure, the second half is slightly disappointing, but nowhere near enough to hamper your overall experience. I loved it and I hope you will as well. Don't neglect it like many others have8.6/10

in1984 7.1 of 10. As teen girl films go this year, I prefer The Truth About Emanuel (2013). By comparison, this is clearly an attempt to do another teen girl perspective film. In many ways, it succeeds in addressing important issues while still creating something amusing and sexy teens can relate to. Unfortunately, it tries to do too much and cover too much ground.One of the many good artistic things it does that is often failed in other films is having the lead character speak in the background for added context. Here, it's done the way it should be, like hearing the character's thoughts and not trying to use it to tell the story.Some other films this reminds me of and those who enjoy this (or those) will enjoy: Drool (2009), Rocket Science (2007), Snow Angels (2007), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Teeth (2007), Poker House (2008), Precious (2009), and Kids (1995).