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12 and Holding is a 2005 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho, Zoe Weizenbaum, and Jeremy Renner. The film is distributed by IFC Films and was released on May 19, 2006 in limited theaters.
Plot
12-year-olds Rudy Carges and his overweight friend Leonard Fisher spend the night inside their treehouse after hearing bullies Jeff and Kenny want to destroy it. Jeff and Kenny arrive and set the treehouse on fire, not knowing Jacob and Leonard were in there until too late. Leonard escapes unharmed but then falls to the ground unconscious, while Rudy is burned to death offscreen. Rudy s twin brother Jacob, a boy with a huge birthmark, decides to seek revenge against the bullies. At the hospital, Leonard finds out he lost his sense of taste and smell. Leonard is then prompted by his gym teacher to go on a diet, which isn t welcomed by his obese family. The boys female friend Malee tries to befriend an adult named Gus, a grief-stricken patient of her therapist mother Carla. Jacob s family falls apart after the death of his brother, but soon after they adopt a boy named Keith Gardner. Meanwhile, Malee begins to have a crush on Gus and changes the song for her recital to one Gus liked. As time goes by, she sees Gus as her soul mate . She sneaks into his house one night to find him grieving. Afraid to confront him, Malee steals his gun and leaves. She gives the gun to Jacob the following day.
Jacob s mother gets furious when she finds out Jeff and Kenny are being put in juvenile hall for only one year, while Jacob s father views Rudy s death as an accident. Jacob spends the next few months visiting Jeff and Kenny, and threatens them, until eventually Jeff commits suicide. Jacob befriends Kenny, soon learning he has an early release and is illegally moving to New Mexico. Meanwhile, Leonard s father decides to take his sisters to Florida instead of Leonard (who would usually go). Leonard decides to force his mother to lose weight by trapping her in the cellar. They both end up in the hospital after a gas leak in their home. Next, Jacob and Kenny agree that Jacob can go with him to New Mexico. Malee visits Gus and removes her clothes in an attempt to seduce him. Instead, Gus calls Malee s mother to come and pick her up. The next day, Gus explains to therapist Carla about the last fire he ever fought (which involved killing an injured little girl, upon the girl s request), claiming that Malee wanted him to take her pain away, as he was aware of her growing crush on him.
Meanwhile, Jacob s mother tells him that Keith Gardner wasn t adopted to replace Rudy, and that she wants Kenny dead, which reminds Jacob of his planned revenge. The night of escape for Jacob finally comes and he meets up with Kenny. Jacob insists on going through a construction site which he says is a secret route. Once there, Jacob points Gus s gun at Kenny, and tells him you killed him before shooting him dead. Jacob buries the body and leaves. He returns in the daytime, and sees Gus spreading cement above Kenny s grave, knowing the evidence is gone.
Malee begins visiting her estranged father and Leonard s family finally starts eating healthily. Jacob returns home without telling anyone what he did.
Cast
- Connor Donovan as Jacob Carges/Rudy Carges
- Jesse Camacho as Leonard Fisher
- Zoe Weizenbaum as Malee Chuang
- Jeremy Renner as Gus Maitland
- Annabella Sciorra as Carla Chuang
- Linus Roache as Jim Carges
- Adam LeFevre as Gabe Artunion
- Jayne Atkinson as Ashley Carges
- Marcia DeBonis as Grace Fisher
- Tom McGowan as Patrick Fisher
- Michael C. Fuchs as Kenny
- Martin Campetta as Jeff
Reception
12 and Holding received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 73% approval rating, based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website s consensus reads, This shocking pre-teen drama manages, through realistic performances and a sense of empathy, to avoid exploitation and instead deliver something honest and haunting.
Writing for About.com, critic Marcy Dermansky said, Writers are often encouraged to provide moments of and revelation for their characters; 12 and Holding provides three transformations, and each is not only convincing, but also moving .
In a review for Slant Magazine, Keith Uhlich criticized Anthony S. Cipriano’s contrivance-heavy screenplay and Michael Cuesta’s Six Feet Under-tutelaged direction , saying the film comes off as something of a neo-con paranoid fantasy, its wayward trio of suburban youth standing in for the ills of America .
| Year | 2005 |
| ReleaseDate | 2006-07-07 |
| RuntimeMins | 94 |
| RuntimeStr | 1h 34min |
| Plot | After his twin brother is accidentally killed by vengeful bullies, a 12-year old boy and his friends face the harsh realities of death, teenage hormones, and family dysfunction. |
| Awards | Awards, 5 nominations |
| Directors | Michael Cuesta |
| Writers | Anthony Cipriano |
| Stars | Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho, Zoe Weizenbaum |
| Produced by | Brian Bell,Michael Cuesta,Mike Downey,Frank Frattaroli,Michael Hoffman,Doug Mankoff,Michael Nozik,Amy Robinson,Jenny Schweitzer,Nick Goodwin Self,Andrew Spaulding,Leslie Urdang |
| Music by | Pierre Földes |
| Cinematography by | Romeo Tirone |
| Film Editing by | Eric Carlson,Kane Platt |
| Casting By | Judy Henderson |
| Production Design by | Lucio Seixas |
| Art Direction by | Eric Friedewald |
| Costume Design by | Marina Draghici |
| Makeup Department | Stayc St. Onge,Joanna Stewart,Maria Tancredi |
| Production Management | Kristen Dirato,Paul Epstein |
| Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | Paul Epstein,Francisco Ortiz |
| Art Department | Matthew Amenta,Jeremy L. Balon,Zach Baylin,Rick Giacco |
| Sound Department | Joshua Anderson,Claire Bell,Leslie Bloome,Bucky Carr,Tom Efinger,David Ellinwood,Paul Hsu,John Moros,Paul Sacco,Gabriel Sanders,David J. Schwartz |
| Special Effects by | Drew Jiritano,Neil Ruddy |
| Stunts | Douglas Crosby |
| Camera and Electrical Department | Abe Albach,John Anctil,Nicola Benizzi,Michael J. Burke,Steven Capitano Calitri,Pierrot Colonna,Tara Emanuelson,Shawn Greene,Julia Griner,Adam Hall,David Kavanaugh,Michael Kirsch,Nina Kuhn,Daniel Lichtblau,Elaine Lincourt,Ludovic Littee,Louise Lovegrove,Ron Morales,Jorge Olortegui,Christopher T. Paul,Randy M. Salo,Erik Shirai,Sean Taylor,Adam Troeger,Jonathan Vierira,Brett Walters,Joy Weber,David Woolner |
| Casting Department | Kimberly Graham,Molly Moran,Kia Warren |
| Costume and Wardrobe Department | Sonya M. Andonov,Brooke Parr,Brooke Styles,Kia Warren |
| Editorial Department | Marc Brown,Bo Lee,Christopher Pensiero,Ken Rubenfeld,Martin Zeichner |
| Location Management | Alexander Kalkines,Brendan O Rourke |
| Music Department | Paul Hsu,Robin Urdang |
| Script and Continuity Department | Sharon Watt |
| Transportation Department | Zachary Henderson |
| Additional Crew | Ami Armstrong,Michelle Chai,Heather Daniels,Jo Davis,Alfred DeGrand,Valerie Evering,Jennifer Fanning,Fahim Fazli,Carol Frances,Tyrone Francisco,Kristin Hensley,J.P. Impastato,Todd James,Emily Jerome,Geoff Linville,Jason Messeri,Max Miner,Jacquie Mitchell,Molly Moran,Jason Mottley,Chris Northrop,Michael Pevney,Steve Pines,Michael A. Price,Elizabeth Ramos,Daniel Rbibo,Leslie E.A. Rider,Michele Robertson,Kelly Salmon,Madeline Samit,Stephen Scharf,David W. Schoner Jr.,April Schott,Matthew Schuchman,Craig Seti,Raj Singh,Wes Waldron,Matt Watkins,Michael Williams,Lang Yee |
| Thanks | Louis J. Ambrosio,Steven Gorelick,Anne Hubbell |
| Genres | Drama |
| Companies | Serenade Films, Canary Films, Echo Lake Entertainment |
| Countries | USA |
| Languages | English |
| ContentRating | R |
| ImDbRating | 7.4 |
| ImDbRatingVotes | 6952 |
| MetacriticRating | 65 |
| Keywords | kitchen,masking,bedroom,ying,afternoon |