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2:37 By: Andrew Moran 3 Stars out of 5 Stars Starring (Alphabetical Order): Charles Baird, Sam Harris, Sarah Hudson, Joel Mackenzie, Teresa Palmer & Marri Spillaine A contemporary, ensemble drama telling the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with.
A contemporary, ensemble drama telling the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37 a tragedy will occur, affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers. As the story unfolds, the individual stories of the six teenagers are revealed, each with its own explosive significance. An unwanted pregnancy unravels a terrible, dark secret; all is not as it appears for the seemingly confident school football hero; an outcast must deal with everyday taunts from his peers; a beautiful young girl battles an eating disorder; a stellar student constantly struggles to win his parents' approval; while another uses drugs to escape from his own demons. 2:37 is a thought-provoking cinematic journey that is at once beautiful, devastating, passionate, bold, controversial, unforgettable and above all, humane.
This may be, to some people, which this story has been told many times. For example Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. But in this case, I think it’s told in a different way. It’s all told in a half a day, 6 teenagers using different ways of communicating their frustrations. This movie wasn’t anything unique but it was a film that I think many kids around the world could have empathy for. Maybe not kids in the West here because they all have to hide their emotions. But that’s up to another psychological debate for some other day. Overall this film surprised me and it got a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival premiere. This was surprising because many other Australian films get horrible reviews just like this year’s festival premiere of Macbeth. 
The best thing to this movie is that somewhere in the world are some talented young adults in film. As opposed to the West where there aren’t a lot of talented teenage kids. Throughout this film I can guarantee that at least one person could have had empathy to any situation that kids were given whether it was where Melody (Teresa Palmer) takes a home pregnancy test; her brother Marcus (Frank Sweet) displays an aggressive temper with his teachers; and good-looking jock Luke (Sam Harris) fools around with girlfriend Sarah (Marni Spilane) while guarding a painful secret. Or Sean (Joel Mackenzie), a pot-smoking outcast who turns angrily defensive of his homosexuality at the drop of a gay slur, and for Steven (the very likeable Charles Baird), a pitiably awkward individual whose medical problems have made him the butt of everyone's jokes. I’m pretty sure a lot of people can understand any situation these kids go through and the frustrations that enwrap our souls throughout the depression that society gives us these days. Sometimes, as teenagers, we feel we just have to lash out and have others suffer our same miseries. |
