Following up on her crowd pleasing 1998 film Finding North, Tanya Wexler directs this tweaked coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen and his even more troubled family. Having just come out of detox for drugs and alcohol, JJ (Jonathan Tucker) returns home hoping for a little comfort and solace, but he finds little of both. Though his mother continues to dote on him, everyone else is out to get him -- his brutish step-father Bull who is still furious over the vintage car JJ wrecked while hopped up; his vampish step-aunt Dot (Jennifer Tilly); his effete uncle Ernie. Even his former dealer Bobby, his girlfriend, who dumped him for Bobby, and his high school guidance counselor Dr. Charlie (David Strathairn) has something against JJ. While JJ struggles to straighten out his life, he remembers fondly his stay in detox. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.
by Jonathan Crow
synopsis
