Jamesy Boy 2014

     This film is based the true story of James Burns.  A young teen gang member turns his life around in prison.  He had been housed in a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals.  He forms a friendship with a convicted murderer and he becomes his mentor.       

      There is a problem with the scenes from the past and the present?  The sequence feels like they are out of order and parts have been omitted?  James was tried as an adult but he was 15 years old?  He seems to always be in trouble and it leads to a prison sentence.  His actions now have consequences because of his decisions.  He has plenty of time to think about his past and the life he is living now.  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

109 min, Bio directed by Trevor White with Spencer Rocco Lofranco, Mary-Lousie Parker, Ving Rhames, James Woods, Taissa Farmiga, Rosa Salazar,Michael Trotter, Ben Rosenfield, Taboo, Aaron Opara, Keon Clayton, R. Emery Bright, Ken Arnold, Joe Ordaz, Kellyn Rogers.

 

Note:  Imdb 6.3 out of 10, Roger Ebert 1 1/2*, 26% critic 58% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic 29 out of 100 with 6 critics 6.2 out of 10 with 10 user reviews, Slant Magazine 1/2* out of 4*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 87 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Maryland.  There is a 2001 documentary film titled If I could or 2001 about James Burns.  This is the second time Taissa Farmiga and Spencer Rocco Lofranco have worked together.  They co-starred in At Middleton 2013 but this film was shot first.  Farmiga and Ben Rosenfield worked together on 6 Years 2015.  Farmiga and Rosa Salazar were in the first season of American Horror Story 2011.