As Cool as I Am (2013)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is at tops a TV movie designed for a Sunday afternoon when you have nothing better to do. It does stray along way from Pete Fromm's book which is considerably more intense and describes the falling apart of a family in greater detail than the film. The performances were OK, James Marsden and Claire Danes gave below par performances compared to their other work. Sarah Bolger carried the role of Lucy off nicely but for obvious reason didn't commit to the character 100%. For those interested it might be worth doing a search for a Matthew J. Clark short called 'Dry Rain' based on a short story by Pete Fromm.If you do enjoy the film it is very much worth reading the book which goes into many of the implied topics in the film in greater detail.

As Cool as I Am (2013)Do I feel the need to ever watch this movie again? No Did the actors have good chemistry? Yes Was the plot decent? Not entirely Execution decent? okay This movie offers up some good examples (as far as fiction goes) of why some people should not have children until they are ready and how not experiencing things or experiencing too much can harm you. I couldn't cheer for or against any of the main characters in this film. The situations that come up are very predictable and the way they are solved or left unresolved is annoying.The opening scene had me excited for this film: Lucy is swinging around on bars in a playground with her best friend Kenny while her voice-over plays."Everybody has two families. The stable family we pretend to have. Then there's the real people we are related to. My best friend Kenny says, "Stable families make boring children." And by stable families, I think he means the kind were mom and dad and kids stay in the same house all the time. And by boring he means not as cool as we are." They stop swinging and start playfully talking. Then Lucy runs home and a montage plays up the cool family aspect. The Diamond family is different for several reasons: neither parent has living parents, they became parents very young, the dad only visits a few times a year, and her mother has a job, Mr. Diamond doesn't know about. None of this is particularly interesting but serves to create conflict later on. The only thing I found funny in this comedy was Claire Danes in one scene. Her outrage at the grocery store was unbelievable. The character and her acting was hilarious in that setting. It was beyond stupid and ironic. James Marsden did decent considering he was mostly allowed to allude to saints throughout the movie. His overreactions could almost have been endearing if they weren't so violent. Kenny's mom despite the way she handled things, was one of the few people who did something that made sense and wasn't just an action done to feel something.Sometimes not liking any of the characters in a movie can work. As Cool as I Am doesn't make that cut. There are so many things wrong with the characters yet these flaws don't captivate me to feel anything beyond annoyance at the experience. Lucy is a victim of her own making. I'm not even talking about the rape. She didn't want it and chose not to pursue charges. That was her right. It was smart of her to get an exam and opt for the HIV prevention drug. Then for so irrational reason, she starts dating the ex best friend of the guy who raped her, just because he flipped the guy off and invited her fishing. Not all rape victims, want to be victims, and deal in different ways. This just seemed so unrealistic and contrived.Well at least she was smart enough to get birth control, after the first time she had sex with Kenny, who loves her (according to him), and use a condom other times. Safe sex can be good. This movie was not good. It was okay.

Lucy Diamond has to deal with a very dysfunctional family. She only sees her Dad a few times per year, thanks to his lumberjack duties. Her mother does the best that she can, but she's in disarray. Her best friend is a guy, Kenny. Lucy & Kenny fall for each other during the summer. When school starts, things begin to get increasingly difficult when Lucy starts exploring sex and alcohol, while everyone she cares about seems to abandon her in time of need. Meanwhile, Lucy's mother Lainee can't cope very well with her husband's constant time away and resorts to sleeping with other guys to try to alleviate her suffering. 5.8? Are you kidding me? This is a genuine piece of film making with the best intentions in mind for everyone. Not only is it very realistic for the most part, but the strength of the character development in this film is top-notch. You are able to sympathize with everyone in this film in some shape or form. Even when I didn't agree with a character's decision or their attitude, I was still able to get into their plights. I thought it was a very good look at not only teenage angst, but parenting as well. The issues between Lainee (The Mom) , & Chuck (The Dad) is all too real. Far too often do things go awry when you have a child at such a young age. You start to pine for your glory years after a while, forgetting about the things that are most important. We all deal with things in different ways. I've heard people talk about how predictable this movie is. They're correct about that, but predictability isn't always a bad thing, now, is it? Claire Danes is terrific as the complex mother. There were times I couldn't stand her and others where I absolutely adored her, but when all is said and done, it's impossible not to feel something for her character. As good as Claire Danes is, the best performance in this movie belongs to Sarah Bolger. She is absolutely phenomenal for her age, conveying many emotions to perfection. She has a lot of screen time and she is easily up to the task. I was very impressed by her. James Mardsen is excellent as the father with pent-up frustration and repressed anger. it isn't that easy to sympathize with him, but if you look hard enough, you should be able too. My only complaint about this movie is that the second half gets a bit convoluted. After a near perfect first half, things get a little haywire with too many loose ends. I didn't like the ending at all. It is ambitious, but it fails to make much sense and left me feeling somewhat deflated after such a powerful experience for most of the movie. Final Thoughts: This is one of the most underrated films of 2013. Sure, the second half is slightly disappointing, but nowhere near enough to hamper your overall experience. I loved it and I hope you will as well. Don't neglect it like many others have8.6/10

"If memory is malleable then the future is too." Lucy is a sixteen year old girl who is too smart for her own good. She spends her free time learning how to cook and hanging out with her friend Kenny. Her mother (Danes) and father (Marsden) had her when they were young and not ready for that responsibility. Now with her dad gone all but 4 times a year and her mom acting like a kid herself Lucy is left to discover life for herself. This is a movie that again proves my point that a movie can be entertaining and worth watching involving great acting rather then special effects. This is a movie along the line of What Maisie Knew only involving an older child rather then a 6 year old. Parents that should not have been allowed to have children and a child who is more mature then the parents. You really root for Lucy the entire time and by the time the end come you feel extremely sorry for her as well as relief. That is a hard combination to achieve but that's what great writing and acting does. Overall, a great movie that is pretty depressing but I recommend this. I give it a B+.