Trouble Boys

More rooting around in the back of the queue, circling back to the Aughts as a way of clearing out the backlog:

GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (2009) (B-minus) - Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite") directs this loopy, silly story of a teen science-fiction writer whose story gets stolen by a pretentious famous writer. This one walks a very fine line between sending up ridiculously bad fiction and itself being bad fiction.

But this falls on the side of worth watching, mostly due to a few fairly well-known actors who dive head-first into the shallow end of the pool. Jemaine Clement ("What We Do in the Shadows") takes the juiciest bite into it as Dr. Chevalier, the pompous author who runs a camp for aspiring writers but whose lectures focus mainly on his simplistic algorithm for naming characters. Sam Rockwell, covered in a wild wig and long beard, carries the fantasy sequences that animate the original story written by young Benjamin (Michael Angarano). Jennifer Coolidge is fascinating to watch as Benjamin's struggling single mother whose metier involves designing and making hideous clothes. And Mike White jumps in front of the camera to play a thoroughly ineffective mentor to Benjamin (and star of a low-rent videotape production of Benjamin's story, "Yeast Lords").

It takes a while to set up that whole premise, and you may not have the patience for Hess' insistence on returning to the deliberately hackneyed fantasy sequences or his penchant for vulgar scenes frequently drenched in bodily secretions. But this is one of those shambling movies where you just go with the flow and try to have as much fun as the cast is having. Hess wrote this with his wife, Jerusha, and their kitchen-sink approach and D-level special effects have a certain charm. Young Angarano mopes his way throughout as the center of all this wackiness. Clement commits to a goofy voice. And somehow, Hess balances the quirk factor just enough to merit a worthy successor to his beloved cult debut.

TWELVE AND HOLDING (2006) (B) - Michael Cuesta goes to some dark places with this tale of childhood revenge. Written by Anthony Cipriano (who would go on to create the TV show "Bates Motel"), it tells the story of 12-year-old Jacob, whose twin dies in a treehouse fire set by two bullies who didn't expect brother Rudy to be in it. 

Jacob (Conor Donovan, who also plays Rudy) hounds the boys during their year in juvenile detention, fueled by his mother's inability to forgive the boys who killed her son. The story stays focused on Jacob and two friends, and all of the kids take on the mature role of counseling and challenging their parents. Chubby Leonard (Jesse Camacho), who was injured escaping the fire, takes on his obese parents' nutritional choices, while Malee (an electrifying Zoe Weizenbaum) not only schools her divorced mom (a drab Annabella Sciorra) but develops a serious crush on one of her mom's psychiatric patients, Gus (Jeremy Renner), who himself has some deep trauma that will slowly reveal itself. 

The film is written and shot somewhat like a TV soap opera. But Cuesta (following up his compelling debut "L.I.E." and who would go on to make "Kill the Messenger" with Renner) churns this along with an appealing earnestness. Young Donovan is hit-or-miss as Jacob, the unwanted twin born with a Gorbachev grape-stain birthmark that covers the left side of his face and who struggles to overcome his lifelong grievances. Jacob's latest beef is that the favored twin now gets to be a martyr. 

But it is Weizenbaum and Camacho who really pop and who make this worthwhile. Malee starts out the film getting her first period, and she is hellbent on kicking her miserable mom aside and not only pursuing Gus romantically but also trying to save him from his sorrow. Leonard goes to extremes to try to turn his mom's life around through apples and salads, but he fumbles those attempts and comes off as a lovable loser. If you can get past the dull parents and the grownups' weak performances, these kids will provide you with a surprisingly compelling tale of salvation.

BONUS TRACKS

"Gentlemen Broncos" has an eclectic retro soundtrack, with the movie bookended by Zager and Evans' zombie overture "In the Year 2525":

This Diane Warren song performed by Cher sounded like a parody of an earnest Cher song, "Just Like Jesse James" -- it sounded like Jared Hess was trying to write a bad song to celebrate his young hero -- but apparently it's a real release:

And this lovely song over the end credits, "Self Control" by Yiquan:

 

"12 and Holding" has a subtly effective soundtrack, including era cuts from R.E.M. and Presidents of the United States. Two standouts include Sunset Valley with "Wired Nights" and Death in Vegas (featuring Hope Sandoval) with "Help Yourself":