I love Sundance / Indy movies. They are usually by unknown directors and unknown actors, and they tell refreshing stories. Movies  are about stories.

Lawrence (Frank Wood), a photographer living on his own in New Jersey, rekindles a relationship with his high school sweetheart Caroline (Paige Turco).  Then she dies in a tragic and freak accident. Her 16 year-old son Johnny (Ryan Donowho) has nowhere to go but a foster home. Lawrence takes him in and finds out almost immediately that it’s a lot harder to be a father than he could possibly have expected.  Johnny is a very troubled teen, as he quickly finds out. He is into drugs, has severe emotional balance issues, no doubt partly resulting from being abandoned by his father when he was very young. Johnny repeatedly rejects Lawrence and wreaks havoc in his home. Many dramatic and comedic events unfold, involving Johnny’s love interest Mariana (Isidra Vega), Johnny’s drug dealer, Johnny’s real father (Aldo Perez), and Lawrence’s dog Lucy. The sound track is strong  with guitar music and features songs by The Cure, The Troggs, The Stone Roses, Interpol, Nikki Sudden, Blondie, The Cascades, Chris Montez, The Jacobites & The Garretts.

Rating: **