Such a frustrating disappointment

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

To all of those people out there commenting on how bad the acting was or how poorly the script was written or how there was no plot to the movie. You. Are. Wrong. As someone who read, and absolutely loved, the book I would like to say how much it meant to me that someone else enjoyed this book enough to craft it into a movie. When I first found this piece I was incredibly moved by it. Having gone through trials and tribulations as James had, finding someone out there, even fictional, who had experiences similar to my own was a godsend. I'd been there. I knew the pain of not belonging and the pressure to do so. I'd had those same hopeless thoughts. This book, if not saved than severely changed my life. So to all of you ragging on this movie because of its "flaws", you don't understand the message behind it, and I feel extremely sorry for you.

When it was over my wife said "slice of life". And indeed it is but a bit more. I found it better than the IMDb rating would indicate. It is about a 17-yr-old boy in NYC who is intelligent, has well-educated parents, and he is all set up to attend Brown after graduation. Or so his parents think. But he is very conflicted, he isn't sure he wants to go to college, has some idea that learning a trade might be better, like carpentry or leather working. His parents, who are divorced, are concerned and have him see a "life coach."The boy is played by British actor Toby Regbo who has such a good ear for accents he never gives his origin away, but doesn't sound like a New Yorker either. He is the character James Sveck . His mom is played by Marcia Gay Harden as Marjorie and his dad is played by Peter Gallagher as investor Paul Sveck. Lucy Liu is the Life Coach . And Ellen Burstyn is his grandmother Nanette . She lives in some sort of rural community and he enjoys visiting her, and sometimes it seems she is the only one he can connect with.So maybe the best way to summarize the story is James' "coming of age", realizing that his doubts and fears are normal, and that compared to most other he is in fact more normal than most.

This film was fantastic. I have almost nothing in common with the main character, but I somehow managed to connect with him in multiple ways. He embodies the tortured teen spirit that comes inevitably with an unstable home environment, and his confusion is expertly depicted through the film's witty dialogue and realistic nature. I also thoroughly enjoyed Aubrey Plaza's character; she was charming as usual and played the part very well. The cast was very well chosen and had great chemistry - each individual actor is clearly talented but when put together they are a force. I have only good things to say about this movie!

So i read the book. By the time i gotten to chapter nine (He finally starts talking about what happened in the American Classroom) I realized, "He's like the male version of me." All that hating people, suicidal thoughts, depression, and psychopathy was all right there in this book about a guy who understood the world and hated what he found.BY the time i got to the end i thought, "Why the hell did i read this?" It's frustrating and scary because it makes you question EVERYTHING and soon you just can't trust anymore. It ruined me for a while there.But then I read it again and I'm like, "I can do better than this. So what if I'm miserable? If I'm going to be miserable then it's going to be on MY terms." Of course this makes no sense at all but at the time i was inspired and realized, "James was right. I'm just a teenager. What do i really know?"Basically you're going to be pulling your hair and thinking a lot but in the end it just might make you better.