Written by: Nick Hornby (novel), Francesco Bruni & Ludovica Rampoldi & Andrea Molaioli(screenplay)
Directed by: Andrea Molaioli
Starring: Ludovico Tersigni, Barbara Ramella, Jasmine Trinca
Rated: TV-MA
Plot
Adapted from the Nick Hornby book of the same name, this Italian language movie depicts sixteen year old skateboarder Sam, looking to move to California and go to university. That changes when he meets a girl and is soon faced with the possibility of becoming a father.
Verdict
This raises a few interesting points about teenage parenthood, but never explores them fully. Being predictable isn't bad, but frequent dream sequences become bewildering and infringe upon the plot of the movie.
Skip it.
Review
Previous Nick Hornby adaptations include Fever Pitch (2005) and About a Boy (2002).
Sixteen year old Sam has to face his future when he might become a father. This could potentially derail his plans and his mother is against him raising the child, herself having had Sam at sixteen. Sam's already concerned about having a kid as a teenager, which despite that doesn't cause him to use protection, and his mom urging him to not raise the child is a surprise. He has to reconcile becoming a teen father and the fact that while his mom says he is her greatest blessing, if she had to do it over she wouldn't have kept him.
His girlfriend's parents aren't thrilled with the prospect of a baby, concerned about their daughter's future.
It took me a while before I realized what the voice over actually is. At first I thought it was Sam in the future, but then I realized it's Tony Hawk reading excerpts from his biography. That's the real Tony Hawk.
This employs a couple really long dream sequences/time skips. They become increasingly weird as they are so long. At first I thought it was a dream, but then I second guessed that because it just kept going. It must have been a way to pad the run time. Leaning more on the time skips, this could be a rather interesting sci-fi movie.
This addresses a difficult situation and brings up many interesting points. There are too many cooks in the kitchen, with the teens and both parents wanting to express an opinion. The potential baby's last name is a serious point of contention.
This ends up rather scattered. I don't have a problem with the predictability, but it presents issues without really exploring them. The frequent time jumps are just disorienting, and while it attempts a deeper meaning with Tony Hawk's biography, it just doesn't get there. I really like the soundtrack with Cake and The Pixies, though I wasn't sure why this pulled '90s songs.
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