DVD Review - Short Term 12

Genre:
Drama
Distributor:
Verve Pictures
Rating:15
DVD/BD Release Date:
10th March 2014 (UK)
Director:
Destin Cretton
Cast:
Brie Larson, Frantz Turner, John Gallagher Jr.
Buy:Short Term 12 [DVD] / Short Term 12 [Blu-ray]
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Short Term 12, for the most part, is an emotionally devastating drama that sensitively observes the lives of the residents and staff at a foster-care facility for at-risk kids. With an unsentimental eye, the director, Destin Cretton, creates scene after scene of believable situations that leave an indelible mark. Take, for example, the scene in which Jayden, the newest kid at the facility, throws the most harrowing of tantrums after her father doesn’t show up to take her home for the weekend, or the sequence in which she reads a fable she wrote about an octopus and a shark to her care worker Grace, revealing her abusive upbringing through an heartbreaking allegory.

The trouble is that as memorable as scenes like the ones I’ve described are, Cretton’s film is too often formulaic and predictable to be fully convincing. The rightfully lauded scenes of unsentimental observation are therefore occasionally undermined by the conventionality of the narrative, allowing for some sentimentality to creep in and overwhelm parts of the story. This is most apparent in the paralleling of Jayden’s traumatic story with the childhood of Grace, the films main protagonist. By creating similarities between the two characters’ upbringings, Jayden’s story becomes marginalised and is seen more as a contrivance to further Grace’s story arc.

The film is bookended by scenes in which Grace and her co-workers are sitting outside their titular workplace sharing informative anecdotes that neatly wrap up the story. This, coupled with the recurring motif of Grace arriving at work each morning driving her bicycle into the same static shot of the foster-care facility, leaves us with the notion that the cycle of care they provide is continuous and that for institutes like Short Term 12 there will always be at-risk kids in need of guidance. This is a rather poignant and fitting note for the film to end on. Though the film often frustrates, it is hard not to be moved by its story.

★★★☆☆

Shane James

Watch SXSW Prize Winning Trailer For Short Term 12 Starring Brie Larsson

Whilst to many cinephile's who don't dare to go beyond the popcorn munching blockbusters Summer is also when the great independent films from early film festivals are released like  Destin Daniel Cretton's Short Term 12. Grabbing the Grand Jury as well as Audience awards at SXSW starring Brie Larsson (21 Jump Street), John Gallagher Jr (The Newsroom)in a tale of a a gifted but troubled teenage girl arrives at the facility, Grace is forced to confront her own difficult past and unexpected future.

From those who have been fortunate to have seen this film have had nothing but praise for the film delivering a dose of every form of emotion you can think off. It looks charming, delicate, funny but most of all true to life. The trailer looks wonderful but for anyone who has doubts on Short Term 12, watch the trailer and check out the reviews and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

No word on an UK&Irish release date and if it does get a release expect it to be shown via arthouse cinemas rather than mainstream cinema. Short Term 12 does have an American release date which is 23rd August, the film also stars Rami Malek (The Master). Check out the trailer now....

Synopsis

SHORT TERM 12 is told through the eyes of Grace (Brie Larson), a twenty- something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge – and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.)
But Grace’s own difficult past – and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself – throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility – Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection.
She and Mason also struggle to help Marcus (Keith Stanfield) – an intense, quiet kid who is about to turn 18 – manage through the difficulty of having to leave the facility.
Grace comes to find – in both her work and the new teenager in her care – surprising sources of redemption. And while the subject matter is complex and often dark, this lovingly realized film finds truth – and humor – in unexpected places.

source:Yahoo