BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

walterhpdx I've been watching lighthearted movies all week, and IMDb suggested this one as similar to a movie I'd just finished. I didn't realize this was quite the opposite of lighthearted, and got sucked into the movie, not caring what direction it took.The two leads are your regular highschooler types; impulsive, wondrous, and at the same time, guarded. You could tell Mike finally had someone to reach out to, though Will was far too guarded at first. And when they finally got on the same page, that made for magic.The chemistry between the two leads was undeniable, and I should have seen the inevitable conclusion, giving that the class assignment was about 'Romeo & Juliet'. It still caught me off guard, though.Yes, it's a sad movie - but in sadness, where you can find hope and not despair, you know that you've connected with your audience. And that's just what this movie does.

donwc1996 My ten vote is strictly for first time feature actor Lucas Linehan who, if there is any justice in the world, will be a big star! This guy has it all. Looks, talent, chemistry, charisma - you name it - Lucas has it. He made this insufferably bad film worth watching and even though I groaned my way through the absurdly juvenile script (the director candidly admits he wrote it when he was 15) I could not take my eyes off Lucas who is so refreshingly new, so incredibly talented that one wonders just how far he will go in films. Based on this debut alone he should be picked up by a big Hollywood agent and I am certain he will. Other standouts were the mother in the home and the teacher in school. Both women created unforgettable characters that really worked. But the failure of this film is the absolutely dreadful script, which if actually written when the director was 15 is understandable. It just plain reeks of silly, juvenile ideas that have no place in a serious script although Lucas Linehan is actually able to overcome most of the horrible writing, but, alas, not all, that's how bad the script is.

larkpraise I got this movie on DVD in January. I have watched it almost every night since then so I feel I can give an adequate review. I have never been affected by a gay film as much as this film has impacted me. Maybe because the two main characters are so easy to identify with and because you long for the happy ending that does not come. Certainly the film is low-budget and there are some creaks in the plot. But what makes this film work is endearing charm of Tristan Barr and Lucas Linehan in the lead roles. I have never seen a gay film where the two leads had such chemistry with one another as this film (and I own quite a lot of gay films with the coming out theme). Everyone comments on Lucas Linehan's brilliant performance as the tragic Will. Linehan succeeds on all counts certainly and this can make it easy to overlook Tristan Barr's amazing and equally brilliant performance as the lonely, nerdy, misfit who has to endure the endless bullying and taunting of his schoolmates even though he is not "out of the closet". Seeing that many reviewers have commented on Linehan's performance, I want to say something about Tristan Barr. He, too, has many, many haunting moments in the film. In the beginning when the teacher is passing out the handouts for the project and Will passes Mike the papers and Mike drops them the expression on his face says, "Boy, he's going to think I'm a clumsy oaf". His awkwardness is evident simply by the look on his face...even before he meets Will. The next great "Mike" moment is when the teacher asks Will to read an excerpt from "Romeo and Juliet" and Mike is completely mesmerized by Will's sensitivity in reading. The camera at first focuses on Will reading then captures Mike's expression.....he can't take his eyes off him. What Barr seems to be thinking (and what he is telling the audience) is "can this guy be like me??? Is he gay"?? A good actor will convey with his face and eyes what dialogue cannot express. The director wisely muffles the sound as Will continues reading and the camera focuses on Mike's "thoughts" revealed only through his face. My favorite "Mike" moment is the scene in the garage where he has set up a small film projector and fixed a big screen to show Will, who has never been to a drive-in, what its like to see a movie there. Will is unquestionably happy and thrilled at what Mike has done for him and Mike's face shows delight in Will's happiness. This is probably my favorite scene in the whole film because it shows the caring, compassion and love between these two lonely misfits. Mike's face as he looks at Will enjoying himself has a poignant pathos and one has to have a heart of stone not to be moved by such a showing of love in such a simple, understated way.Other Great "Mike Moments": When Will pushes him unexpectedly into the pool and Mike reacts with "hurt" because it brings the bullying he has known throughout his life into reality. When Mike shyly asks Will if they are "together". Mike's longing to take Will to the dance and Will rejects him because he is "scared". One's heart aches for Mike because we feel his pain just as we feel Will's pain with his abusive father. WARNING: BIG SPOILER ALERT: Mike running down the street because he fears for Will's life and comforting Will when Will breaks down after the confrontation with his father. The last 17 minutes of the film all belong to Barr who never loses his audience. His broken heart is revealed for all to see, even the bully. His running out to the grassy field and digging his hands in the dirt and letting out his grief because he last lost his "great love" makes you want to reach out and say....its all just a bad dream Mike. You're going to wake up just as the teacher puts the film in the VCR and Will is going to be right next to you telling you to "calm down" ...you were just having a horrible nightmare. At least that is how I choose to look at the ending. This is one movie I will never tire of seeing and let's give credit where credit is due....Linehan AND Barr's touching and brilliant performances brought out by director, Lee Galea!

jm10701 Monster Pies is the story of two average, slightly nerdy guys in high school who fall in love and experience practically everything guys have experienced in gay movies since The Boys in the Band - in other words: too much. Too much for THIS movie, anyway. Robert Altman could have juggled this much melodrama, but this is a small movie that staggers under an unnecessarily heavy load.It's as if Lee Galea, the movie's writer-director-producer-executive producer-editor-etc, had a long list of things he felt compelled to include in his one shot at a feature-length gay movie, and most of them just get shoehorned into the story in places where they don't fit. The result is a painfully clumsy movie, in which the viewer gets slung around from one trauma to the next, with no sense of continuity or understanding of why all this stuff is happening. It's arbitrary, it's tiring, and it makes it very hard to care about these kids, since they live in some slightly skewed universe in which nothing makes sense.So... why did I give this wreck of a movie five stars? Because of the two kids. Five or six times in the course of this disaster there is such sweet, strong, simple and pure affection between them that it makes all the other crap worth suffering through.It's like gentle magic. You're wrestling with this movie, trying to enjoy it but finding that an impossible feat, and then Will and Mike look at each other, and say something so tender and so lovely that you can't help loving them.Only when the two guys are alone together is this movie worth watching, and not always even then. Those few magical scenes last a total of maybe fifteen minutes, and they're scattered through the movie almost at random, like diamonds in a landfill. They make Monster Pies well worth watching, but it's rough going in between.