Twelve and Holding

Rudy and Jacob are twin brothers who are best friends, yet totally different. Jacob is quiet, shy and has a nasty birthmark on his face (which obviously doesn’t help), whereas his striking brother is oozing with confidence and bravery. They are both friends with Malee, an intelligent and pretty only-child of a single mother, and Leonard, an overweight boy who lives in a household of food obsessed family members. When Rudy dies protecting his tree house, after a group of kids set it on fire (not knowing people were inside), Jacob, Malee and Leonard each deal with the tragedy in different ways. Malee, who believes she’s mature enough to deal with her own feelings, becomes totally obsessed and claims to fall in love with one of her mum’s patients (who is more than double her age). Leonard, who lost the ability to taste and smell due to the tree house fire, becomes passionate about losing weight, and forces his diet and exercise theories on his unimpressed family. Jacob, becomes fixated in making sure the boys who killed his brother, pay dearly for the pain they’ve put him and his family through. All of the young actors in this movie are truly amazing. You really feel their love and their pain. This movie offers some really sad moments, some really funny moments, and constantly makes you think about life and death. It’s a seriously powerful film, which is filmed beautifully. There was never a dull moment in the whole movie, and you are constantly fixated on the screen and the characters. I really like this movie.