Forum: Loverboy
Téma: Loverboy (2005)
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SandraFan2:
From IMDBb, I found this review of "Loverboy" via Cinema Blend.
IMDb external review via Cinema Blend
Loverboy - Review
Length 87 min
Rated: Not Rated
Distributor: Mixed Breed Films
Starring: Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Dominic Scott Kay, Marisa Tomei, Oliver Platt, Campbell Scott, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon
Sandy plays Mrs. Harker.
Directed by Kevin Bacon
Produced by Daniel Bigel, Michael Mailer, Avi Lerner
Written by Hannah Shakespeare
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Release Date: 5/20/2005
Reviewed by Lexi Feinberg: 4/19/2005
Most people can physically be parents, but not everyone should exercise this biological right. In fact, potential parents should be actively screened before being permitted to procreate. If they pass an all-encompassing mental health test and show abundant signs of competency, then give them a license, and they can bring yet another human being into the overpopulated world. While this declaration may seem harsh and naturally, tongue-in-cheek, movies like Loverboy make me think the idea may have some validity behind it.
Emily Stoll (Kyra Sedgwick) has fantasized her entire life about being a mother, despite the fact that she is a controlling mental-case. In the film?s opening segments, she confesses, ?I never wanted a house, never wanted a husband; what I wanted with every cell of my body was a baby.? After several failed attempts at artificial insemination, she goes to Plan B, which involves sleeping with a large variety of the strangers she encounters while traveling around the country. She calls herself a ?nomadic huntress?, which sounds a lot more impressive than ?a pathetic, promiscuous baby-craver?. After seducing a sexy conventioneer named Paul (Campbell Scott), she finally gets pregnant, and names her son after him.
As a child, she felt ignored and unloved by her parents, Marty (Kevin Bacon) and Sybil (Marisa Tomei). The couple was so passionate for each other that she felt like a side effect of their affection, rather than a welcomed addition to the family. The film jumps several times back and forth from the present to the past, with classic tunes playing and a dream-like quality to the flashbacks, similar to an episode of TV?s ?Cold Case.? Her unsatisfactory childhood leads her to desperately want a child of her own, and to shower it with all the love she feels she didn?t receive. While this mentality is typical in young girls who lovingly cradle baby dolls in their arms, it?s a bit embarrassing to see a grown woman still embodying this juvenile urge. If you want a baby purely to have someone love you and give love in return, why not just buy a puppy and call it a day?
Flash forward to the present tense, where Emily is living in suburbia with her adorable 6-year-old son, Paul (Dominic Scott Kay). Believing that public school ?beats the exceptional right out of you?, she subjects him to home-schooling, crowning herself as his only teacher. Rather than hitting the books or solving equations, they spend time painting the walls, dancing in the rain, and digging in the backyard for old treasures. Every day is summer camp, and conformity is avoided like a new strain of bacteria. The neighbors all think they?re weird, but that just makes Emily feel successful in her quest.
Eventually, all children rebel against authority, and Paul is no exception. He begins to resent not being in school or surrounded by people his own age. He no longer appreciates the name ?Loverboy? that Emily has bestowed on him since birth. ?Stop calling me that, my name is Paul!? he exclaims in mid-tantrum. And you can?t blame him, since it?s not the most masculine name with which to woo the ladies on the playground. After a series of losing battles Emily reluctantly enrolls him in school, agonizing over her son?s newfound desire for independence and growth. She responds by neurotically visiting school during his recess; beckoning him to play carefully and psychotically lashing out at a teacher she thinks is trying to steal her son away. Her entire life has revolved around this child, and now he is outgrowing her. The transition sends Emily into a deep emotional abyss, where tragedy and a series of unfortunate events ensue.
Despite strong acting and a promising directorial effort by Bacon, the film ultimately misses the mark due to distasteful characterization and an unconvincing script. Kyra Sedgwick gives one of the best performances of her career, but it is impossible to root for a character that gives Mommy Dearest a run for her money. There is no real motivation offered for her cruel behavior towards this child she claims to love so intensely. My hatred for her character grew so extensively that I found myself praying for child protective services to show up and put ?Loverboy? in foster care. The movie features many familiar faces in cameo roles (Campbell Scott, Oliver Platt, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock), but does not give the actors much to do with their time. It?s a bundle of celebrities placed into insignificant roles, merely for the excuse to advertise an ?all-star cast.? It?s a horrifying shame to witness uber-talented Campbell Scott given substantially less screen time than Marisa Tomei.
The main problem with Loverboy is that while little of it rings true, and it at times appears cartoonish, you can tell Bacon and Sedgwick take their subject matter very seriously. Screenwriter Hannah Shakespeare suffers the same ailment, and certainly does not live up to her last name. The film is an unconvincing thriller because too many scenes are unintentionally comical, and it fails as a dark comedy because of extreme self-importance. Even the most forgiving moviegoer is unlikely to view the despicable lead character as semi-sympathetic. The kicker for me is the ridiculously inappropriate ending, which is so over-the-top and insulting that my eyes literally ached from rolling them so hard. The final product could have been groundbreaking if even a minute of it felt believable. Instead, we wind up with a big bowl of Jello posing unsuccessfully as Creme Brulee.
SandraFan2:
Loveboy -- 2005
From IMDb, here is a list of character, short plot outline and an user review.
IMDb Loverboy page
Loverboy (2005)
Directed by
Kevin Bacon
Writing credits
Victoria Redel (novel)
Hannah Shakespeare (screenwriter)
Genre: Drama / Romance (more)
Tagline: Some mothers aren't meant to be moms.
Plot Outline: A neglected daughter becomes a possessive mother in an emotional journey into the heart and mind of a woman who loved too much.
Credited cast:
Kevin Bacon ....Marty
Sosie Bacon ....Emily (10 years old)
Blair Brown ....Jeanette Rawley
Sandra Bullock ....Mrs. Harker
Spencer Treat Clark ....Paul at16
Matt Dillon ....Mark
Melissa Errico ....Miss Silken
Valyn Hall ....Allison at 16
Steven Hinkle ....School Kid #1
Dominic Scott Kay ....Loverboy (aka Paul)
John Lafayette ....Allen
Oliver Platt ....Mr. Pomeroy
Campbell Scott ....Paul's father
Kyra Sedgwick ....Emily
Marisa Tomei ....Sybil
Country: USA
Language: English
LOVERBOY
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User Comments:
Author: JoFRC from Brazil
I'm from Brazil, and I don't know how, but Loverboy is available in DVD in Brazil in every videostore...I rented it, I was expecting a great movie as the directional debut of Kevin Bacon, an actor that I think is one of a kind in his choices and performances...The movie is OK, it's about a super jealous mother(Kyra Sedgewick), that made everything to have a son and tries to create him in a world apart from everybody, but then the boy starts to have ''outside'' contacts, and wants to go to school and be a normal kid, and her mother starts going mad.
She's that crazy because of her creation, and we learn from flashback scenes, that her parents(Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei) were really ''different'' and she wanted a neighbor(Sandra Bullock) to be her mother. Then there are parts involving the school and a beach-area, and then the finale, that's a bit forced, but I won't reveal anything, because it would ruin the surprise ending. The acting is really good: Kyra Sedgewick is really good here,she's in almost every scene and even that sometimes she overacts, she shows a great range of emotions,a great body(that her husband shows very much in the beginning...) and, in certain parts, she has a strong resemblance to a younger Glenn Close; the boy, who i don't know the name, also gives a bravura performance, as a starter he shows he has talent, sharing a good chemistry with Kyra, and making the ''rebel'' parts very believable; then there are smaller parts or even cameos by Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei as the fathers of the Kyra's character(Marisa overacts here, trying so hard to be a crazy bitch, with colorful clothes); Sandra Bullock as the mother rule-model to the girl-Kyra(She can't show real acting, her part is important, but very small); Mat Dillon as a love interest, (which isn't well worked in the screenplay, with Dillon doing the best he can with the part); Campbell Scott as the kid's father(that's a cameo); and Oliver Platt as a school worker(nothing important...).
The flaws are over the screenplay, that never goes deep in the mother's craziness, and has some confusing parts as the one that happens in the beach and the soundtrack, that is a bit goofy and too funny, when it needed to be more serious. Anyway, this is a good movie, not great not bad, with some flaws but also with some very good stuff, as the acting of the two leads. The disappointment I said, came from the fact that I was waiting something more serious and edgy from Kevin Bacon as a director, not a dramedy, that is what the movie ends being
SandraFan2:
Here is some additional infomation about Loverboy via IMDb.
Jul 21, 2005
Film was just picked up by Screen Media Films for DVD.
IMDb message board
Review
Jan 29, 2005
IMDb message board "Loverboy" review
I saw a screening of Loverboy at the Sundance FF a couple of days ago. The movie is somewhat of a fairy tale, dreamy in feel and yet disturbing.
Kyra Sedgwick plays a fairly disturbed girl who, although lacking even a steady boyfriend, decides to have a baby. After various interesting attempts and failures, it finally happens just when she's ready to give up, in a one-night stand - but with a man who she meets and is drawn to by love. The result is her son Paul who she calls Loverboy. This happens in the first 15 minutes.
The rest of the move is set ahead a few years, when Loverboy is school age. As this part of the movie unfolds we can tell that Mom and son have lived a magical life together so far. Kyra does a great job playing a loving mother living only for her son and building a fantasy life with him. He's all she has. Loverboy begins to yearn for friends his age, for school and a normal life. As he tries to reach for a life beyond mom, she tries even more desperately to cling to their fantasy relationship, even moving away when pressures from neighbors and school teachers become too strong.
Loverboy (wonderfully played by Dominic Scott Kay) begins to realize his mom is disturbed but loves her too much to leave and he really hasn't many choices. Matt Dillon plays a boyfriend and temporary father figure they meet along the way. Although I'm not often a Matt Dillon fan, he does a great job here and I would have liked more of his interaction with both Mom and son. Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei play Kyra's parents in various flashbacks, with Sosie Bacon (Kevin/Kyra's real life daughter) playing young Kyra in these flashbacks which are used to show what a sad and even weird life Kyra had growing up. Sandra Bullock appears in a handful of other dream-like intermixed flashbacks, playing the perfect mother/neighbor from Kyra's youth - the mother she wished she had.
Kevin Bacon shows a lot of potential as a Director here and gets outstanding performances from his actors. Kevin's brother does a good job with a good score that fits. The movie may be a bit too quirky for mainstream hollywood and it isn't perfect. I'm not a big fan of dreamy movies and there's a bit too much fairy tale feel here. Kyra sparkles in her role and look for more from Dominic Scott Kay.
SandraFan2:
Here are the release dates and other information about "Loveboy" via IMDb.
Release Dates
Release dates for Loverboy (2005):
Country Date
USA 24 January 2005 (Sundance Film Festival)
USA 5 February 2005 (Santa Barbara Film Festival)
Portugal 28 April 2005
Italy 20 May 2005
USA 20 May 2005 (New York City, New York)
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Production Companies
Bigel/Mailer Films
Millennium Films Inc.
Mixed Breed Films
Distributors
Millenium Films (2005) (non-USA) (all media)
Nu Image (2005) (non-USA) (all media)
Warner Bros. (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
Other Companies
Film Effects Inc.digital opticals
Film was just picked up by Screen Media Films for DVD.
Will have platform theatrical run as well.