Crutch

Rob Moretti's story, based on his real life experiences, opens wide the often difficult struggles of "coming out". The complication is heightened by a family falling apart, parental mental illness, an older mentor prepared to take advantage and access to recreational drugs. Dealing with one or two or these issues would be more than most could handle, however this movies main character was dealing with all of them. Crutch/Moretti masterfully works this into the story without making the lead character seem pathetic. Eben Gordon does a magnificent job of playing the title character while Rob Moretti very effectively portrays the mentor that enables our lead characters move toward a path of destruction. The end credits let the audience know what became of each character. Our main character found his way to seven years of sobriety. That character is Moretti himself and gives the audience the reward of knowing he is okay! This movie really touched me.

I can't really tell whether I liked the film or not, but what I do can say is that it is an uneasy story about a boy that happens to be gay (I don't buy the preyed thing...) and everything around him just going wrong, So it is not like you're going to enjoy it or have a good time, which is quite an achievement by itself, but at some (but few) points things get pretty... TV-ish, I would say. Acting at moments is noticeably awkward, and that is not a luxury you could afford while dealing with such an angstful environment. Some things get a little bit too dashingly resolved, which makes some "passages" sadly missable. The movie has spirit and is quite watchable, given how boring/ridiculous most disfunctionality films are. Anyways, is not a film you should watch if you tend to get scandalized (You really shouldn't, since it has a high level of subjectivism, the director is not only telling his story, he's also playing the teacher's role). I'll just give it a six, by now, it qualifies for its slot in the rack :)

MAY BE SPOILERS - I guess if I would have known more about this movie, I probably wouldn't have watched it. Even though I believe that, as adults, we should have the right, without fear of retribution, to experiment with, or get involved in, whatever lifestyles or sundry aspects of life we desire, even when others may regard this behavior as sordid, or however distasteful to them. Of course this is dependent on this behavior being by, and between, consenting adults of sound mind, and that no other persons, animals, etc. are harmed, burdened, or unduly subjected to it. Given this, it does not mean that I have to personally like it or want to view it (hence, the "I probably wouldn't have watched it" comment). This film would probably be characterized as a gay-themed film, although it was more than that, and touched on a variety of issues. Again, what consenting adults do is their own business, but this situation was quite a bit different. The main character is a very confused 16-year-old boy, who is preyed upon by a 30-year-old male teacher of an acting class the boy takes. The boy, whose parents are too self-absorbed in their own problems, is in desperate need of someone he can talk to and confide in about his awful home situation - and about life in general for someone evolving through, what are possibly, the most confusing, emotional, and important formative years in one's life. Unfortunately, the teacher is only concerned with his own agenda (as we see is the case of all the characters in this film), which is seducing the boy. Little by little, the teacher works on this seduction until it evolves into David (the youth) being a regular visitor at his apartment, where the minor is plied with plenty of alcohol and marijuana, and eventually he turns the boy, and Kenny (the teacher) and David are seen spending most of their time together getting loaded and engaging in sex. It gets progressively worse for David. The teacher is also a heavy cocaine user. One day, while snooping around in his bathroom, David finds a healthy bag of the powdered form of the drug, and steals it (Apparently Kenny must have had quite a stash, as he never even misses the 1-2 gram bag). With all of David's difficulties, the cocaine looks like something to alleviate his mental anguish. Unfortunately, it's just another "crutch," and what looks like a temporary solution, inevitably develops into just one more problem.

I won't go into the whole story here, but with all the problems and pressures in David's life - the very dysfunctional home life; his use of drugs and alcohol; his confusion over his sexual identity and unhealthy "relationship" with his teacher; and the fact that he's just a teenager in the first place, and sorely equipped to logically deal with his condition; his mental state gets worse.

Maybe I'm getting old, and more responsible, but I had a problem with this film, and that was that the filmmakers didn't really seem to see anything wrong with a 30-year-old sexual predator, in the role of a teacher, taking advantage of a very vulnerable and mixed up kid of 16. Nothing seems to ever have been done about Kenny, and even at the end of the film, they mentioned something on the order of "his whereabouts is unknown, may be teaching somewhere else." How many people out there would want this character as a teacher for their children? It doesn't take a genius to figure out how all but a very few would answer.

Whether I agree with all of them or not, this guy has broken a whole raft of serious laws, and he needs to spend a few years behind bars. I don't know how accurate this portrayal was, but, supposedly, this was an autobiographical film based on the life of this picture's writer/director, Rob Moretti (his first). As is the case with most of us, we might be able to come up with solutions, or otherwise advise and help others with their problems, but when it comes to stepping back and taking an objective assessment of our own difficulties, we quite often are unable to do a very good job. Perhaps this is what happened here with Mr. Moretti. Do society a favor, Mr. Moretti. If this guy is for real, find this monster and have him arrested - before he works his evil on more troubled and impressionable youths.

The acting was so poor it was literally distracting. Some of the topics touched on during the film, were divorce, generational substance abuse, predatory sexual abuse, alcohol related death,codependency, grooming, etc, etc, etc... In other words-- a hot mess.

Wonderfully filmed, poignant story, fantastic actors. An impressive film to say the least. I hope to see it in wide release so all can enjoy. The story is a coming of age story of an endearing young man and his struggles with addiction, family, and love. Writer/Director/Actor Rob Moretti must have had a roller-coaster of a ride creating this film. It is charged with honesty, hardship, and an underlying theme of Making/Creating and fighting the Unmaking/Destroying. The demons of this film reside in each of the characters, but they are ousted by the goodness and will of those same characters. Eben Gordon is brilliant. I can't wait to see his next project. He plays David, the protagonist. His execution of character development reminds me of Edward Norton's in "American X". He goes from young and innocent to hardened and wiser within a wonderfully timed and subtle arc.

Rob Moretti impresses as David's mentor, Kenny. The relationship these two actors create is potent, real, and honest. It brings to mind the torrential joy and disaster of my first love certainly. With everything else Moretti must have dealt with on set as director/writer I find it very impressive that he and Gordon created such synergy. Most of the other actors did very well, though I would have loved to see more of Frankie Faison as Jerry. An intricate film and wonderful experience. It was very impressive.