The Adventures of Sebastian Cole
rated R 112 minutes starring Adrian Grenier, Clark Gregg, and Aleksa Palladino directed by Tod Williams
A Video Review by Frankie Paiva
There are two fantastic and wonderfully original characters at the heart of this movie. The first is Sebastian Cole, (played well by Adrian Grenier who made this before appearing in teen flick Drive Me Crazy) he's a rebellious teen in the 80s who has to live with a family full of his mother's ex-husbands. One morning, Sebastian's stepfather Henry (Gregg) announces to the family that he plans to become a woman. This sets off Sebastian's sister and mother, especially, who drags him along with her to a boarding school in England. Henry/soon-to-be Henrietta is the second fascinating character in the film. The two leads are both so endearing that the movie will quickly suck you in until it's conclusion. Sebastian moves back to live with Henrietta and he begins what he calls his adventures. All of them are designed to help him become a writer in his later years. Some of these adventures include riding his bike everyday down the school hall, buying a motorcycle, having an on-again off-again relationship with a girl named Mary, and seeing what happens when you drink half a bottle of Vodka in one gulp. When Henrietta asks him why he's trying to get himself into trouble, Sebastian replies, "Because I need something to write about."
This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, mainly because of the disjointed storyline (meant to symbolize the confusion of the teen years) and it's intriguing characters. There are some very funny scenes, particularly Sebastian's demonstration of karate, and Sebastian's grandfather who doesn't quite know the right thing to say at the right time. Clark Gregg has done an incredible job with his small role in this movie. Everytime he is on screen you can just look into his eyes and see that he has good intentions behind them. He always looks like there's an emotional bubble in him just about to burst. And just like another recent transgender character (Philip Seymour Hoffman in Flawless) I actually believed he wanted to be a woman. I wish that there would have been more of him in the movie. Grenier makes a good debut, and if he shows the promise he has shown here in other pictures, he should become a leading young actor. The camera work in the movie is very simple, there's nothing too fancy, but it suits the movie, and allows the human emotion to sink in. It's also enjoyable that most of the film is script driven. This little seen festival film has just arrived on video and I urge you to give it a try. It is a worthwhile way to spend your time and money. I hope that you enjoy this movie, which I believe gets pretty darn close to perfectly depicting the loneliness, confusion, anger, and happiness of teenage life in it's true form.
A
Frankie Paiva SwpStke@aol.com http://www.homestead.com/cinemaparadise/mainpage.html
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