Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6354 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Synopsis
Director Michael Cuesta follows up his debut film L.I.E. with another harrowing coming-of-age tale in TWELVE AND HOLDING. Cuesta casts young Conor Donovan as his lead, with the impressive actor playing twins--the sociable athlete Rudy and the distinctly introspective Jacob. Joining Donovan in the cast are Jesse Camacho as Leonard, a paunchy kid reminiscent of Jerry O'Connell's Vern in STAND BY ME, and Zoe Weizenbaum as Malee, a quietly disturbed young girl with a fractured family life. The five 12-year-olds are close friends, but their lives are thrown into turmoil when a prank by local bullies goes horribly wrong and Rudy is burned alive in a tree house. As Jacob's parents fall apart at the news, the rudderless surviving twin realizes he can't rely on them for support, so he makes the surprising decision to make regular visits to the two brothers who killed Rudy as they languish in a juvenile detention centre. Meanwhile, Malee copes with the tragedy by obsessing over an attractive older guy named Gus (Jeremy Renner) and Leonard gets on a health kick despite his overweight parents' protestations. Cuesta's film draws on elements of similar genre favorites, not only STAND BY ME but Jacob Estes's MEAN CREEK and even the work of Todd Solondz and Gregg Araki. But TWELVE AND HOLDING is not a facile reproduction of other work; instead it's a startling kids'-eye view of poor parenting and woeful neglect. The four leads give astonishingly mature performances, and Cuesta manages to surpass his meagre budget by creating a stylistic tour-de-force that may leave anxious parents wondering what their kids are doing in their spare time.

Customer Reviews

It's Just A Tree House
After making a name for himself with the controversial, but honestly made 'L.I.E.', director Michael Cuesta returns with his second outing '12 And Holding', and continues his focus on the little covered ground known as modern youth.

This is a haunting coming-of-age film about children, bound by a common, shocking tragedy, who struggle to get on with life and overcome their own troubling problems. Despite the severity of issues conveyed in this film's overlapping vignettes, it never becomes melodramatic. Artful screen writing and direction infuse humour in the telling of these children's stories; stories rich with characters who are colourful, but never contrived. All of the children provide very genuine, endearing performances, essential if the audience is going to empathise with them and their disturbing behaviour. Depending on who you are, this movie will most likely make you uncomfortable at times, but no matter how horrifying and even monstrous these children's actions may be, they never lose their appealing and disarming qualities as children. These are ultimately good kids, even the most troubled, who easily win your affection.

During the course of the movie, one of the children queries the others by asking, "Do you know 90% of people's problems are due to their inability to get over the past?" All of these children will be faced with this challenge. You hope all will overcome this obstacle, but sadly, not all of them will or should be able to get over their past. One of my favourite films of 2006...

Family all watched
This story well documented by last viewer.
I write to say it appealed to sons 10 and 13 they got something from it they watched avidly all the way through.
A good coming of age film ,all family can share with some interesting subjec matter.

"Kids, huh!"
I was impressed with director Michael Cuesta's work on "L.I.E.", starring Brian Cox and the young and now very promising Paul Dano, so I was curious about "12 and Holding". This film continues Cuesta's review of childhood neglect, showing how three twelve-year-olds in suburban America learn to cope under challenging conditions: Leonard has a weight-problem, Jacob has a dead-twin-brother-problem, and Malee has a man-problem. Sometimes the kids are more grown-up than the grown-ups.

The three stories are skilfully intertwined to produce a narrative of poignancy and depth with some nice touches of humour. It raises questions about dysfunctional families (which family isn't?) and about how lonely kids can be whilst surrounded by all their friends and family. It challenges and engages, but it ultimately fails to uplift or entertain. Four stars - just.

There are, alas, no extras.