As Cool as I Am

source: As Cool as I Am

I came across this movie on Netflix streaming movies. I took a chance and it is well worth the 90 minutes. Good story and good characters. It is a discouraging movie in many ways but has a hopeful ending. Set and filmed in New Mexico, Sarah Bolger, doing a believable American teen accent, is 16-yr-old high school sophomore Lucy Diamond. Her dad, James Marsden as Chuck Diamond, has some sort of job that requires him to be away for weeks at a time. Her mom is Claire Danes as Lainee Diamond who had Sarah when she was only 17. Chuck is old-fashioned, he is the bread winner so Lainee doesn't tell him she has a telemarketing job when he is away. The story is centered on Sarah, she is smart and responsible but her dad and mom probably should have never married. They don't have a loving relationship and mom strays when she meets what seems to be a nice guy. There is an interesting scene in a supermarket when one of those "nice guys" courting her is seen shopping with his two children and his wife. So how does Sarah avoid that same trap? And how can she pursue her love of cooking, perhaps becoming a successful chef, and writing a bestselling cookbook? Her best friend since they were 6 is Thomas Mann as neighbor Kenny Crauder and after Sarah and Kenny start to realize maybe they are meant for much more together, and begin experimenting, Kenny gets sent away to live with his father. The movie never pretends there are easy answers for all these issues. In the end mom finds yet another old boyfriend, she desperately needs to be "saved". In the process Sarah has to fend for herself again. The movie ends with a sweet scene, with a Peter Fonda cameo as the owner of a popular local restaurant. After his son and Lainee run off to Mexico Sarah finds ingredients in the kitchen of the now closed for the evening restaurant and makes eggs in a red sauce. She serves herself and Fonda's character, they taste and compare notes as Sarah's voice-over indicates she will be OK, she has a plan.

Lucy is a minor girl who lives with her mother Lainee and her father has left them because of the work that must take in order to maintain the house and his loved ones. He comes once a month to visit them or every time he has the opportunity. Lucy's neighbor, Kenny is a shy boy about her age and slowly Lucy's feelings for him becomes too magnify even for a girl like her. She is clumsy, making fast decision witch in fact takes years to accomplish, but for her a few seconds are enough. The relationship with her mother is very open, the two seems that are sisters or best friends and this brings even more freedom in Lucy's behavior. Her father Chuck is on the contrary more imposing with her or the boys witch her daughter had been related. Soon some arrogant peers from the high school will approach her and invite her at some party to take advantage of her immature mind. But this will also ruin the connection with Kenny, her family and another boy that she recently meet. Will she be able to restore order in her life? I was curious about this movie particularly because of the name, I expected something more solid, more smarter. Similar like "Megan is missing" or "Trust", in "As cool as I am" we witness a silly girl making another things like an ordinary girl at the same age at her should do. The exception is that here we don't have the internet or the virtually chat between the characters and the action takes place in reality. Claire Danes looks gorgeous, James Marsden's time in the movie is too little and his talent can't be seen, and the movie becomes painful to watch at some point, doesn't bring nothing new and in the end you can put yourself the question: "Why should I care?"

7.1 of 10. As teen girl films go this year, I prefer The Truth About Emanuel (2013). By comparison, this is clearly an attempt to do another teen girl perspective film. In many ways, it succeeds in addressing important issues while still creating something amusing and sexy teens can relate to. Unfortunately, it tries to do too much and cover too much ground. One of the many good artistic things it does that is often failed in other films is having the lead character speak in the background for added context. Here, it's done the way it should be, like hearing the character's thoughts and not trying to use it to tell the story. Some other films this reminds me of and those who enjoy this (or those) will enjoy: Drool (2009), Rocket Science (2007), Snow Angels (2007), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Teeth (2007), Poker House (2008), Precious (2009), and Kids (1995).

I like James Marsden, but I think this is the worst role I've seen him in. Claire Danes has a couple emotional performances, but it's not enough to redeem this intense, depressing mess of a movie

"As Cool as I Am" is a well-intentioned coming-of-age story, but it seriously lacks focus. The story jumps from one thread to the next, back-and-forth between the main characters' romantic relationships, all with little clarity, understanding of character motivation or overall narrative drive. In amongst this messy storytelling are a few prominent moments: a rape scene, and a moment where a neglectful father slaps his daughter. Both of these jarring moments seem to be almost immediately forgotten about, lacking sufficient follow-up or indication of how the events affect the lives and psyche of the main characters. It's irresponsible of the filmmakers to raise sensitive themes like rape and abuse and not take the time to properly deal with or resolve them. I've become an increasingly avid Claire Danes fan since 2011 when I became obsessive over "Homeland" – the superb TV drama she headlines – and her involvement was the main factor drawing me to "Cool", her first feature film performance in five years. Sadly it has to be said that if this is the best script Danes can find to draw her back to the big screen, she'd be better off sticking with the box. Unfortunately for fans like myself, "Cool" doesn't offer Danes (who only gets a sketchy outline of a character at best, and is relegated to the sidelines most of the film) much of an opportunity to stretch her considerable acting muscles. Her performance actually falls flat during the major cathartic, emotional scenes in the final third. The star of the film is Sarah Bolger, who is in almost every scene of the film and leaves a real impression. She's the most genuine thing about the whole project, and her major emotional moments ring true – she even sells her main character's culinary interests which are otherwise undercooked (excuse the pun). "Cool" has a distinctly unfinished feel. Characters (particularly Danes') make utterly baffling decisions toward the end of the film which are never resolved, and far too many threads are simply left dangling by the final frame. This sub-par, shoulder shrug of an ending leaves a feeling of redundancy around the whole film. What was the point? And another question that just has to be asked while I'm at it: what on Earth is the meaning of the film's title?

I had initially thought this movie to be a comedy. Mainly because I hadn't read the synopsis, nor scouted IMDb for information about it. All I had was seen the movie's front cover. And now having seen the movie, I will say that, whilst this wasn't a comedy, then the movie didn't fail to entertain. This is a movie about real people with real problems ... well, or at least that is what is meant to be portrayed in the movie. And director Max Mayer actually pulled it off quite nicely, because the characters were very realistic and people you could relate to on one level or another. And the story was well-told, with a good constant flow to the storyline. However, as good as the characters and storyline were, then the movie would be nothing without proper acting talent. And the people they had cast for the various roles in "As Cool As I Am" were really doing great jobs, each and everyone of them. The ensemble they had put together for this movie were really talented and really brought the movie to life on the screen. If you enjoy a good drama that could very well be something straight out of someone's ordinary day-to-day life, then you most definitely should sit down to watch "As Cool As I Am". The reason for me 'only' giving this movie a 6 out of 10 stars, is that the movie seems to be aimed mostly at a young adult / late teenager audience. But still, the movie is enjoyable and definitely worth watching regardless of your age.

I was forced to watch for 90 minutes of a mother's and her daughter's scenes of unfaithfulness, and when near the end a little catastrophe happened, did I feel empathy for the protagonists? Not too much. I felt the movie was too middle classy to my taste. Apparently money, fresh ingredients and good looks help people easily out of their disillusions and life goes on. Maybe a broken neck or a gun fight would have made this piece more satisfactory, more tragedy, but in this manner.... just a soap opera where even dogs were just dogs.

As Cool as I Am (2013) Do I feel the need to ever watch this movie again? No Did the actors have good chemistry? Yes Was the plot decent? Not entirely Execution decent? okay This movie offers up some good examples (as far as fiction goes) of why some people should not have children until they are ready and how not experiencing things or experiencing too much can harm you. I couldn't cheer for or against any of the main characters in this film. The situations that come up are very predictable and the way they are solved or left unresolved is annoying. The opening scene had me excited for this film: Lucy is swinging around on bars in a playground with her best friend Kenny while her voice-over plays. "Everybody has two families. The stable family we pretend to have. Then there's the real people we are related to. My best friend Kenny says, "Stable families make boring children." And by stable families, I think he means the kind were mom and dad and kids stay in the same house all the time. And by boring he means not as cool as we are." They stop swinging and start playfully talking. Then Lucy runs home and a montage plays up the cool family aspect. The Diamond family is different for several reasons: neither parent has living parents, they became parents very young, the dad only visits a few times a year, and her mother has a job, Mr. Diamond doesn't know about. None of this is particularly interesting but serves to create conflict later on. The only thing I found funny in this comedy was Claire Danes in one scene. Her outrage at the grocery store was unbelievable. The character and her acting was hilarious in that setting. It was beyond stupid and ironic. James Marsden did decent considering he was mostly allowed to allude to saints throughout the movie. His overreactions could almost have been endearing if they weren't so violent. Kenny's mom despite the way she handled things, was one of the few people who did something that made sense and wasn't just an action done to feel something. Sometimes not liking any of the characters in a movie can work. As Cool as I Am doesn't make that cut. There are so many things wrong with the characters yet these flaws don't captivate me to feel anything beyond annoyance at the experience. Lucy is a victim of her own making. I'm not even talking about the rape. She didn't want it and chose not to pursue charges. That was her right. It was smart of her to get an exam and opt for the HIV prevention drug. Then for so irrational reason, she starts dating the ex best friend of the guy who raped her, just because he flipped the guy off and invited her fishing. Not all rape victims, want to be victims, and deal in different ways. This just seemed so unrealistic and contrived. Well at least she was smart enough to get birth control, after the first time she had sex with Kenny, who loves her (according to him), and use a condom other times. Safe sex can be good. This movie was not good. It was okay.

Sixteen-year-old Lucy (Sarah Bolger) is a tomboy. She gets on well with her father (James Marsden) but is frequently separated from him for months on end when he goes to work in Canada. Her relationship with her mother (Claire Danes) is easy-going and she takes care of most things around the house. She tunes into her sexuality and her not so 'stable' family dynamics. She develops a relationship with her best friend Kenny (Thomas Mann) and starts to realize that her parents' marriage is not as solid as she had previously imagined. She notices that her father's extended stays away from the family are not typical, and that her mother does not pine for her father as much as she herself does. After watching this movie, I feel like Sarah Bolger is a naturally talented actress. She can hold your attention the entire time she's on screen. The rest of the actors are all fine. This is a small compelling chapter in a young girl's life. Lucy doesn't shun the mainstream stereotypical look of girls, as much as she naturally develops into her own person with her own traits. She realizes that she doesn't have a 'stable' family per se and that she may be the only adult in her family. The parents, their actions, struggles, the guys at school, her falling in mutual love with the one person she knows she can trust outside of her family, her love for cooking, everything is quite realistic and a little depressing at times. Most of the characters are nuanced and as the story progresses, their outbursts come naturally. Each one is given enough time and material to let their personalities come through. Their actions aren't glorified, but neither are they demonized. It just comes off as understandable. Rape is one thing I simply cannot stand and Lucy should have made a complaint to make the boy pay, but we have seen/heard of that course of inaction a lot of times in real life. Her father telling the story of a mutilated saint just came off as ignorant of reality, but also highlighted his upbringing and the guilt he felt for having a child at such a young age. After Roger Ebert's passing, there's only one critic that I trust. He hasn't reviewed this movie, but I fail to understand the disdain and vitriol spewed against this charming coming of age tale by most of the other self-anointed 'critics'. This isn't a path-breaking tale, but it doesn't mean it doesn't have its own appeal. 6.5/10