In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I have always been a huge fan of real life drama, because lets face it, some of this stuff you just can't make up. Even the best writers couldn't imagine some of the things these people have had to endure, and it makes for some amazing films. On the other side of that, there are other stories, which just aren't that unique or interesting, and in my opinion really don't warrant a full length feature film, Jamesy Boy is an example of this. James (Spencer Lofranco) is your typical rebellious kid from a single parent home. He's not poor and has a lot of opportunities, but for whatever reason, he's turned to drugs and crime. He's living the gangsta life on the streets until the inevitable happens, and he winds up in jail. Once there, James witnesses a crime, and meets a man who helps him unlock a talent he never knew he had, but will James turn to the straight and narrow or will his friends pull him back into his old life? This is a true story and newcomer Spencer Lofranco was fantastic, but haven't we seen stories like this done over and over again? To be honest the only reason I kept watching it was to see which path James chose after prison. I wanted to see how his life turned out, but either way, we've seen films like this many times before and Jamesy Boy doesn't stand out in any type of significant way. If you want to do a film that has been done over and over again, true story or not, there has to be something about it that makes it stand out from the pack, and that doesn't happen here. The bottom line, Jamesy Boy is decent and it's fine if you're just looking to kill a couple of hours. It features a pretty good up and coming young talent and some old familiar faces, but beyond that, there's nothing really special about it.

Jamesy Boy is one of the best true to life juvenile delinquent/prison films I've seen. Not only have I've seen a lot of films about guys like these that are usually exaggerated for the purpose of entertainment but I have grown up with and around a lot of guys just like James. Spencer Lofranco's portrayal for me was like looking back at the guys I hung around. Most of them got into a little bit of stuff here and there, some were worse and got sent away for a long time, but most only got juvenile detention or a few years prison. Some were really sweet but got caught up with the criminal aspect of the group so they did their time and only got into fights when they felt they had to --otherwise they weren't violent thugs and they usually cared deeply for their family {by blood and/or by choice}. Everyone in this film brought a realness to their role and didn't just put on a show and that is what makes a really good movie.If you're looking for violence and hard core thugs maybe this isn't for you...but if you have ever had a young loved one do time then find a way to get away from that life style this should be on your must see list. If you have someone like that around you now this would be good to see together and maybe they'll see there is a way out. Another excellent movie like this with a little more violence but still a good underlying message is Starred Up with Jack O'Connell who also costars with the star of Jamesy Boy in Unbroken. Both these actors deliver in their performances in both prison films in different but amazing ways. I am already spreading the word for both films and hope this helps whoever reads this to decide to give both of them a chance.

Jamesy Boy is the type of film you go into, knowing it will probably be somewhat enjoyable and far from the best film ever made. But what I was left with was just a horrid film with terrible performances and a laughable plot line that we've seen done a thousand times over and done way better in films like Midnight Express and American History X. Spencer Lofranco gives a very one dimensional, and paper thin performance as our titular character while everyone else around him drowns him out with better, more controlled performances. This is never a good sign for a film. The supporting actors make Lofranco look like a fish out of water as he tries to navigate the film and keep his head above float when acting with veteran actors such as James Woods and Ving Rhames. One big surprise here, however, is Taissa Farmiga. She was absolutely amazing in this film and I believe she will stand as the only real reason to ever sit through something as incompetent as this is, furthermore, she is the only reason I am not rating this a 1 star film. The story of the little prison boy going straight wears out its welcome after the first five minutes as it dabs into every cliché in the metaphoric book, from befriending the friendly rapist killer in Ving Rhames to going head to head with the "evil" warden in James Woods. I didn't know whether this film was a satire on prison movie clichés or the script was really just that bad. Even for the first time writer/director, Trevor White, this is pretty bad. This is a film that doesn't have any sense of reality, yet it tries to be things like "raw" and "gritty" instead it just turns out hokey and laughable. Overall, Jamesy Boy is one bad film from top to bottom and the only reason why this film is remotely watchable is because of Taissa Farmiga...and even she can't save this film from itself.

Now you keep writing. It don't matter about what, it don't even matter if it's good or not.Yet another moralizing "boy-on-bad-path-comes-to-reflection" story. There are probably several such individuals of whom a story could be told. Despite the fact that this is a story based on true events, it is a film stuffed with cliché elements. It will be an inspiration for some, but that was the movie "Life of a King" with Cuba Gooding Jr.. too. Only the latter was more convincing and credible. James Burns looks more like a member of "The Backstreet Boys" or a modern parody of James Dean, with his clean-shaven appearance and perfect hairstyle. Hopefully the air conditioners worked on maximum in the cinema, so that they didn't need to evacuate massively fainted teenage girls.James Burns ( Spencer Lofranco ) is a troubled boy who has spent most of his youth in institutions and already running around with an ankle strap at the age of 14. He has an impressive long criminal record, including threatening his mother's boyfriend with a knife. His single mother Tracy (Mary - Louise Parker) does everything to get him back on a by society accepted track. Only James feels misunderstood, and he lacks the will to tackle his life in a different way. As a result, he derails soon and begins again with loitering, truancy, smoking joints and eventually participate in robbing a local store. There he meets Crystal (Rosa Salazar), the local mattress of the neighborhood, who introduced him to Roc (Michael Trotter), a local gang leader and drug trafficker. Because of his sturdy and apparently fearless attitude, James gets more respect from Roc who is promoting him to his right hand after a certain period of time. Yet James tries to get his life back in order and he meets Sarah (Taissa Farmiga), the daughter of the owner of the local store they have previously robbed. Eventually it goes wrong anyway and James ends up in jail. His tough and self-destructive attitude crumbles there slowly. Partly caused by Conrad (Ving Rhames) who's been sentenced to life and tries to convince James not to end up in the same way.Besides the cliché content, also the implausible performance of Lofranco is a setback. He doesn't look like a self-destructive and menacing mobster. Several times I found it a bit ridiculous as this good-looking teen idol waves around with a heavy gun at a fierce looking gangster. Immediately I associated it with the arrest pictures of "Justin Bieber". Also such an angelic face. In general, the acting performance of Lofranco wasn't that bad. Just his looks didn't fit. Obviously we have a mother who'll never give up and still has a little hope that her son will still come to his senses, but eventually realises it's hopeless. Also a girlfriend appears and naturally she introduces him to the wrong friends and drags him into his downfall. Prison life is of course a battleground with different rival gangs and a rather impressive tough gang leader (Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas) of whom, how is it possible, James isn't impressed. That makes that they end up in a fight regularly. The pathetic newcomer also has to be present. Again it's someone who looks like he wouldn't even hurt a fly and the tough guys start harassing him. James of course comes to the rescue for this weakling. And then there's the savior in the form of Ving Rhames. A figure that looks like a steamroller who would crush you effortless to serve as fillings between his sandwich, but repentance came while in prison and he dreams of Rio de Janeiro and the huge statue with spread arms on top of a mountain ... sigh . Eventually, he manages to convince James to change gear. So James subsequently emerge as a future poet and he starts to write down deeply human rhymes. We get the well-known images of someone writing down something diligently, then thoughtfully looking into infinity for a few seconds and then writing enthusiastically again."Jamesy Boy" is a typical story. You start wondering if it really was necessary to make a movie about it. There are so many other like James in the world. The only beautiful moments were the quiet and fragile ones with James and Sarah. Tomorrow I'll forget all this and in the future as it is broad-casted once again on some television channel, I will think deeply whether I've seen it or not. More reviews here : http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/