It is difficult knowing where to start in reviewing this movie. There are so many stories going on that at times it is a bit confusing. First, let’s start with Bruce’s story. He’s a boy who has always done well in school and knows right from wrong, but he gets mixed up with the wrong friends and has a change of attitude that is unfamiliar to his mother and brother.

Then let’s continue with Mom who is basically a single mother trying to raise two boys, one during the awkward teenage years. Her husband has a job that takes a three-hour commute so he does not bother to come home a lot. Then he decides to go to Japan to work for “better money” for a year. This situation is not good because it ends with him sending his wife, who is at wit’s end with problems, the divorce papers in the mail.

The fact that this film shows some underage kids sneaking easily into a bar to drink and smoke did not impress me. Although the main character is brought home by police, which never happens these days, they just take him to jail, and there is no bother to make a statement of how they all were caught or the legal penalties which followed. The outcome of the entire situation is that his mother, who grounds him by taking away his job, forbids him to hang out with the friends.

Through all the confusion of which story to follow and what is going to be the outcome, there are some topics for discussion for the family. Topics such as underage drinking, disrespect, trust issues, and the effects on others when someone’s attitude changes. Due to some of the content in this film Dove awards our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for 12+.