just watch it!

good back-story, and good acting

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

*** Some BIG spoilers about plot development follow, so be warned *** I caught this movie a few days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. I almost never write movie reviews here. I'm glad to see a version of this film has made it to DVD. It is hard to explain exactly what makes this such a great film to me, but writing as someone with a few father/son issues of my own this movie has unexpectedly and profoundly affected me.The performances from the leads are great, especially from Branden Nadon and Dylan Walsh, and the story moves along well. Young Branden is just excellent here - he breathes real life into his character - making him both toughened and vulnerable at the same time. Where is he? We need to see more of him as an adult actor. The script may become a little unrealistic at the end to push us towards our happy ending, but I can forgive it that because it's the ending I was hoping for. Some of the other characters are only sketched, but they are all carefully positioned to support the two performances at the heart of this story. I challenge any audience to remain unmoved by the final scenes between Boon and Nathan. How could anyone want anything else for these characters? Love and redemption win for them both, and they find it in each other. I can honestly say that nothing on film has moved me more than this for a long time.If you're used to a diet of slick, multiplex fodder then some of the production values may disappoint you occasionally, but none of that gets in the way of the telling of this neatly crafted little story.Dave Schultz is to be congratulated for creating a very moving independent Canadian film on what I imagine was a limited budget. He successfully navigates a taboo subject to create a little gem of storytelling about fathers and sons.And the track over the closing titles "Whisper in Time" by Bad Religion is killer! Very appropriate.Recommended.Greg

About once or twice a year I find a film that has been seen by almost no one, and yet turns out to be outstanding and should have reached a much larger audience. Jet Boy is in this category. Branden Nadon gives such a superb performance as a boy "Nathan" turning 14 and living in conditions no child should have to endure, that it stirs the "rescue" urge in anyone with a conscience that something like this can happen in Canada or America. The story was written by the director David Schultz, and it is a terrific story. I don't agree that it is a bad movie that nevertheless moves the viewer. I admit it has a few flaws, but most movies do, and they are relatively minor here. Like how Dylan Walsh's "Boon" can so easily reject Nathan after being protective a minute earlier, or how they re-connect in Vancouver when neither knew where the other was in such a large city. Their extended hug near the end is very affecting, and did not hurt the movie in my opinion, as others have suggested. It reflected Boon's realization that he truly cared for Nathan, for he was influenced by his rekindled love interest telling him he is not (and does not have to be like) his own cold, dying, father. Still to see a movie with a raw ugly streetwise theme manage to be uplifting and presented in a way that even young teenagers can watch is quite an accomplishment. It was also great to see a boy who looked to be the age he was playing, rather than an adult playing a much younger person. The scenes where Boon reunites with his high school love and her 13 year old son are beautifully done, and the two boys are so real together, it's hard to believe they are acting. And when the two slightly older boys go out with them and they all get into minor trouble, it seems perfectly believable. Especially when Lloyd, the 13 year old, breaks down and cries at the police station. Each time after I have watched this film, it takes me 30 minutes to stop dwelling on it. I'm so glad I purchased this film sight unseen based on an Amazon recommendation. It is one of my all-time favorites already. I hope some of you reading this will do the same. You won't be sorry.

I gave this a 9 out of 10, which is extraordinary for what, in many ways, is a pretty bad film. Sometimes a movie can touch you, like this one does, even though you know it has some terribly bad aspects like cardboard-cutout characters and unbelievable plot turns. In a movie that often has the complexity and production values of an ABC Afternoon Special, there is the stirring performance of Branden Nadon as Nathan, a young male prostitute, latching onto a drifter he wants to be his ... father figure? lover? both? There are many unanswered questions here, opportunities missed, time spent on uninteresting plot lines. But instead of walking away in disgust, Nadon's performance and character just leaves you hungry for more, and wishing scenes had been expanded. There's a scene where Nathan tells a gay teen who has just kissed him, "I just want to be a good kid," and it so excruciating and sweet and sad you wish the scene had gone on forever. When Nathan accompanies the drifter to the drifter's home town, none of the people he encounters there know how worldly he is, or how wounded he is, and how he longs to belong to someone. It's a poignant performance you won't easily forget.

-------SPOILERS BEGIN HERE-------A very sad tale about a young boy named Nathan. The movie begins on his birthday. He lives with his mother, and has never met his father. His mother's a heroin addict, and Nathan supports him, his mother, and her habit by prostituting himself. His mother dies very early in the film of a drug overdose, and Nathan proceeds to run away from social services.He soon meets Boon. Boon is an 30-something seemingly dead beat jerk. Nathan convinces Boon to let him tag along for the ride to Vancouver.-------SPOILERS END HERE-------The majority of the movie occurs in Boon's home town. Boon meets his high school sweetheart, Erin, and Nathan befriends her son Lloyd. Things take a turn for the worst when it's revealed to Erin that he is not Nathan's father.I'll save the great ending...go watch the movieThe movie shines light on the problem of child prostitution, but it's also a heartwarming father-son story.A must see for all!