Short Term 12

2013 drama

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Workers at a facility for children recovering from traumatic experiences or children dealing with problems try to deal with their own troubled pasts.

I kept hearing really good things about this movie and decided to watch it even though I haven't seen the first eleven movies in the franchise. I started it sometime last year, but it was very late at night and I fell asleep. Then, I was going to watch it about a month ago but saw a kung-fu movie I wanted to watch instead. It's an independent film, something I figured I'd have to be in the right mood to see. I think regardless of the mood I was in, this one would have gotten to me. There's one scene ("Everybody grab one. Come on.") that turned me into a big blubbering baby. I found it easy to emotionally connect with these characters, partially because I recognized some of them and partially because this thing is so well acted, including good child actors, and so well written. Another part about an octopus was also just so simply but powerfully written, and the final scene--which cleverly bookends with the first scene of the movie and a story about a character and fecal matter--had me going again. I don't really know who Brie Larson is but thought she was fantastic here, and John Gallagher Jr. as Mason, plays a guy who might be the most likable, nicest characters I've ever met in a movie. The human drama here feels natural and real, and you pull for these characters, struggle with them, and are inspired by them. There is a scene in this where a character decides to take some batting practice that didn't really work for me. It just didn't feel like it fit with the character or the main storyline. But for the most part, this tells stories that you can easily believe and even more easily care about. It's a great example of how you don't need a lot of fancy trimmings, a lot of back story, or anything artificially tidy to resonate with an audience. This is a really good movie that I'm guessing not enough people have gotten the chance to see, and I highly recommend it.