Jamesy Boy (2014)

the audience applauded

Boring

Beautiful, moving film.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Jamesy boy does a great job at the parrell story , but at the end of the movie you kind of knew what he was going to do. Jamesy has sick poems in jail. The characters interacting made the movie better and better as the story goes on. This is a must see!!!!! Go see Jamesy boy on Netflix now!

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.

The story is basically a strong one, particularly because it's based on an actual person's life. But somehow in general the movie doesn't really grip the edge it should be having. One thing that I notice is that the story flow tries to beautify the movie by splitting its two acts into smaller pieces which the movie alternates in between all the entire duration. But the thing is, the alternating is done on very short durations that the feel on each act doesn't really have any adequate time to build strong in the viewers' minds. If the movie let the environments sink in for longer time, say like twenty five minutes or so before alternating, I think the impact will be far better. The acting overall is a little bit below standard. Spencer Lofranco still needs to work more on his expression which seem hyperbolic on most times. Having Ving Rhames helped a bit in giving depth to this movie.