Ah, Young Love
I remember my first love, he was 13 years old, 4' 9" tall with sandy blond hair that spiked into a perfect wave around his cowlick. While I don't remember thinking: "He's got my first kiss on his lips" like Juli Baker does in Flipped, I do know that after he brushed my hand while handing back our history tests I knew our history was written in the stars. When Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) first meets Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe) for the first time in second grade, she knows she's met her dream boy. However, after mooning over him for 6 years and witnessing his shallow disinterest in anything real and meaningful, she starts to wonder what substance he has (if any) and if he's worth all that mooning. On the other hand,
after that first meeting in the second grade Bryce was 100% certain that Juli was weird, unstable and someone to be avoided at all costs. Only when she begins to pull away from him does he realize
that a girl of substance like her doesn't come around everyday.
This movie was a delightful breath of fresh air. I haven't had the fresh air breath from a movie since The Young Victoria. Although this is a story about really young teens, it's a different sort of love story anybody can enjoy and learn from. All the characters were multi-dimensional and while I was slightly irritated by all the loose ends left with some of those characters, I was okay with it. It just helped lift and illuminate the main plot of these two kids trying to figure out what kind of people they wanted to be and to love. If you really want to find out about those characters you could read the book that this movie is based on by Wendelin Van Draanen. Otherwise just enjoy the portions given to you in the this wonderfully told story.
Motherly Advice: Clearplay filters out a handful of curse words, blasphemy and brief mention of a father's playboy magazine. There is one scene where a daughter talks back to her father (he deserved it) and he hits her across the face. Yelling follows and the daughter storms off. It's very short but might be uncomfortable for really young audiences so set your filters on high for violence if you'd like to avoid that one. With your filters on this movie is great for the whole family! Kids will like watching other kids go through life struggles and adults will love the great, clean story that this is.
Danielle'-Flipped for Flipped
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