Billy the KidA charmer January 23,
2008 4:20:14 PM
Billy.
|
Holden Caulfield — idiosyncratically articulate, yearning for love and connection, his sensitivity on his sleeve — has a kindred spirit in the 15-year-old Lisbon Falls (Maine) high-school sophomore whose story is told in Jennifer Venditti’s endearing documentary. Learned Boston doctors wanted to institutionalize Billy when he was an out-of-control child. His brave mother held out, and now, years later, Billy is attending regular school, though he’s a self-proclaimed “lonely soul,” as the “normal” kids are put off by his odd manner and his uncontrolled blabbing about heavy metal, slasher movies, and books concerning the early lives of future serial killers. But in an age of sullen, grunting, uncommunicative teenagers, the open-book Billy is a charmer, a treat to watch on camera, and audiences can’t help but root for him when he discovers majestic first love in the person of a half-blind, perhaps dimwitted, 16-year-old local gal. As Billy describes Heather, “Her eyes are like onyx glistening in the sun.” 84 minutes | Coolidge Corner
|
|
|
- Rampant consumerism and Iván Navarro at Tufts, ‘Some Sort of Uncertainty’ at Axiom
- Once considered sure Clinton country, the Massachusetts primary is now a shootout
- Never mind its tough-girl alt-porn feminism: SuicideGirls has already moved on to a new generation
- The origins of the vagina dentata
- These guys couldn't turn on a radio
- Think front-wheel drive can protect you from the hazards of a snowy Boston commute? Not so fast.
- In gunning for Governor, the term-limited AG has little to lose
- It is more than just a political problem. Plus, former State Senate President Robert Travaglini strikes a classy chord.
- The BSO, Handel and Haydn, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Cantata Singers, David Daniels, and Teatro Lirico d’Europa’s Tosca
- The future of classical music is here
- The deadbeat FBI fails to pay its phone bills and jeopardizes its wiretapping program
- These guys couldn't turn on a radio
|
-
This Is Nollywood opens the African Film Fest
-
Bruce Weber’s portrait of Chet Baker
-
Authentic, but bumbling
-
Reckless and soulful
-
Kings in Gaelic, plus Brattle Staff Picks
-
The Hollywood writers strike east
-
Waged by amiable actors
-
‘Film Culture’ in 2007
-
And Forever holds its peace
|
- Ego supersized
- An uncomfortable horror/comedy hybrid
- Delivering the goods, especially if you like to watch a man submerged in acid
- The death of a city
- Reality TV has not killed the video star
- Not original "original" screenplay
- No catharsis here, just soft piano keys
- A $25 million dollar budget and a handheld camera
- Billy the Kid has trouble making it through high school
|
|
|
|