Boy Wonder

This year, I've resolved to write a blurb about every new movie I watch. Not a full review, just some thoughts about the movie so at the end of the year, I can remember what I saw and if I liked it.  Maybe I'll look back on something I didn't like in a new light, or maybe I'll wonder what the hell I was thinking for liking one I shouldn't. I'm going to give each movie my initial score and recommendation, in case anyone wants to just skip to the end. So, without any further ado, I give you my first post, and the first movie I watched in 2012:





Boy Wonder (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456060/

In Michael Morrisey's Boy Wonder, we follow Sean, a kid who saw his mother murdered in front of his eyes 10 years earlier and is now dispensing his own brand of vigilante justice, beating and murdering pimps and drug dealers, so no one else will have to go through what he did.  He lives with his father and spends his days at the police precinct, pretending to go through mug shots looking for his mother's killer, but really he's there choosing his next victim. Then there's the detective. New on the scene but conveniently close to Sean's case, she's the only one who can tell what's really going on with Sean. We've heard similar plots before, but I thought this one was handled decently well. It does seem like a first work, like something safe if not slightly amateurish, but I did like where he took it and how he handled the almost inevitable ending.  This was writer/director/producer Morrissey's only project so far, but I think it's a nice start.

I'd never heard of Caleb Steinmeyer, but I thought he did a respectable job at playing the traumatized and disturbed protagonist. His haircut really sold the creepy loner vibe. Zulay Henao was okay as detective Ames, but she was really just playing the generic, tough as nails female cop who demands respect.  Blah blah, seen it all before.  Daniel Stewart Sherman is your comic relief, Ames' partner, who is always saying the wrong thing and doesn't even know it.  Some clever jokes in there and it broke up Sean's creepy weirdness well, but it seems like Morrisey was trying to set the character up for something, then never followed through.  He just kind of disappeared near the end. But the real standout for me was Bill Sage, who played Sean's formerly drunken and abusive father. I thought he showed some nice dynamics between flashbacks and the present sequences. Sage turns up in quite a few low budget and indy films that I've enjoyed, like American Psycho, Boiler Room and Mysterious Skin.  I think I'm going to check out more of his repertoire.

Overall I liked this film.  I have trouble with movies using tired plots, but then again, with so many movies out there over the past 100 years, I guess it's something I'm going to have to get used to more and more. I always give the low budget flicks bonus points for getting it done without the Hollywood machine calling the shots, and this one didn't disappoint. IMDb says people who liked this flick also liked Running Scared and Rampart. I'd say IMDb nailed it, and if you've seen and liked either of those movies (which are both good in their own rights), you'll like this one, too.

Score: 7/10
Recommended: Yes, but not for everyone