By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.9
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Brie Larson | John Gallagher | Kaitlyn Dever | Keith Stanfield | Kevin Hernandez | Rami Malek
Country: united_states
Year: 2013
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2370248/combined
Chris says: “On the TV series United States of Tara, Brie Larson excelled at playing a complicated teenager: initially shallow and self-absorbed, over three seasons her character convincingly grew into a somewhat wiser, if still searching young adult. Still, if you only know Larson from that show or from supporting parts in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD and THE SPECTACULAR NOW, her leading turn here is a revelation. As Grace, a young woman managing a group home for at-risk teens, Larson exudes confidence without any strain or palpable effort. You immediately sense how mature and genuine for her age Grace is, and how naturally she acts as a caregiver who can transition between nurturing and disciplining her charges. She also conveys how her professional demeanor co-exists with her personal anxieties and concerns—both those she shares with her co-worker/long-term boyfriend, the lovably scruffy Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.) and those she can’t bring herself to divulge, not to him or anyone else.
“Writer/Director Destin Cretton is also someone to watch. An adaptation/expansion of his own short, the film occasionally reminds me of Ryan Fleck’s and Anna Boden’s HALF NELSON (also adapted from a short), particularly in how carefully it reels various plot points—for instance, we gradually learn something relevant about Mason’s past during a family reunion, but your heart almost skips a beat upon discovering it because it’s relayed so beautifully that the sentiment it invites feels earned. Likewise, when Marcus (Keith Stanfield), one of the elder teens asks the others to each take a sheet of colored paper, it’s a seemingly random, unexplained moment that fully resonates a few scenes on. If Cretton doesn’t prevent Grace’s burgeoning angst from turning into melodrama late in the film, at least he allows her (and the audience) some release. While it provides ample closure for Grace and Mason, the film’s cyclical conclusion also reinforces a notion rare in a medium where happy endings are the norm: some problems aren’t fully solvable, so you learn to deal with them the best, most proactive way you possibly can.” 4.5 cats”
Jason
says: “That SHORT TERM 12 did very well on the festival circuit is no surprise, but that it managed to get into theaters afterward is a pleasant one. It’s pretty great, but it’s also the sort of observational movie where the plot emerges rather than announces itself. Those can be wonderful things, but hard sells. Worth it, though, in cases like this.
“SHORT TERM 12 is a county-sponsored group home for at-risk teenagers; though the intention is generally for them to be there weeks or months, it’s not uncommon for kids like almost-eighteen-year-old Marcus (Keith Stanfield) to age out. The folks overseeing them are not a whole lot older: Grace (Brie Larson), who reports in to a supervisor but is in charge at the house, is in her mid-twenties, with her boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) and their co-worker Jessica (Stephanie Beatriz) about the same age; the new guy, Nate (Rami Malek), is just out of college. Also new: Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), a cutter who clearly reminds Grace a lot of herself at the same age, sometimes showing just how much she has and hasn’t been able to move forward since her own time in places like this.
“Though writer/director Destin Cretton (who had previously done a short-film version of the story) initially seems to set things up for the audience to be guided through this environment alongside Nate, he wastes no time in making it clear that Grace is the main focus of the story, although the troubled kids around her are not just going to be props that exist as her reflection. Brie Larson, then, is charged with making Grace singular enough to command the audience’s attention without exactly standing out, and she does so in the best way. Her reaction to everything that puts pressure on Grace is note-perfect – the audience can feel the stress on her – but she never becomes larger-than-life; even when acting out, she never feels like she’s performing. She’s got a personality beyond her issues.
“The rest of the cast is very strong, as well. John Gallagher Jr.’s Mason is a sweet complement to Grace, and both Gallagher and Mason provide steady support without overpowering the situation. Rami Malek is not quite comic relief as Nate, but he’s amiable enough that the audience can enjoy his cluelessness without thinking much less of him. It’s the kids who really get the chance to grab the audience’s attention, though. Alex Calloway is a standout as one of the more visibly unstable teens in the house, and it mostly comes from observation. Keith Stanfield and Kaitlyn Dever, meanwhile, get chances to bare their characters’ hearts more directly, and those scenes are as heartbreaking as one might hope for, but they’re also excellent all the way through, with Stanfield conveying Marcus’s shallowly-buried rage and Dever making Jayden a mirror for Grace but still very much being her own person.
“Cretton both opens and closes the movie with someone telling a story and having it be interrupted by something the adults have to deal with right away, and that’s sort of how he structures the movie – things are happening with Grace and Mason, but so much of their lives are dedicated to these kids that the story keeps going off in different directions. At least, that’s how it seems; in actual fact, everything ties back in to their story: For as capable and caring as these young adults are, they are constantly being hammered by the way families can go terribly wrong as they move toward starting their own and they have to figure out if they are up for the job.
“An interesting sort of sub-theme comes up as a result, of how the abused have to take care of their own. Even beyond the obvious lines to the effect of how the likes of Nate and their boss Jack (Frantz Turner) are well-meaning and certainly help, but don’t know the way Grace and Mason do, Cretton doesn’t necessarily try to make the audience understand what these people go through as much as how they help each other. And for as dark as the material can be, there’s still a fair amount of hope there – people are trying to help, and even the most damaged folks can potentially build a life afterward.
“It’s not a complete, final victory, of course – the movie does end on an interruption, with more up in the air than a more commercial film might leave. But it’s still an impressive snapshot that becomes a well-told story; here’s hoping plenty of folks take the chance to see it in theaters while they can. It’s a different experience, but a rewarding one. 5 cats
“Seen 5 September 2013 in Landmark Kendall Square #8 (first-run, 2K DCP)”
Diane says: “And this time, thanks to Chris and Jay for their very high marks for SHORT TERM 12, which is ~superb~ (much better than the trailer led me to think).
“I think that our ‘Best ensemble’ award is for a cast where there are many actors playing equal roles? If that weren’t the case, I’d nom SHORT TERM 12 for best cast. Brie Larson shows a great range in her role as the head staffer in a group home. Her boyfriend, played by John Gallagher Jr, draws us in with his heartbreaking gentleness. And the kids, in large and small roles, are so real–sometimes it seems like a documentary.
“What I liked most about this movie is that the real story is revealed gradually. It’s also an accomplishment of writer/director Destin Cretton that, with all the emotional stuff going on in the house and in the staff’s personal lives, the viewer can be fully invested in the traumas of a bunch of the kids, without the film seeming overloaded.
“Chris, you referred to the movie’s cyclical ending. I’d point out that in the last scene (not a spoiler), the running boy is looking back, as if to say ‘Come after me!’ A very positive development. 5 cats”
Toni responds: “This is such a great film. It is neat to see that so many members are in agreement on this one being great.
“I love how this is more of an acting and story driven film that anything glitzy.
“5 big cats and hopes that is nominated for several awards next year in our awards :).”