For today’s first review of Flipped (2010), here’s Ryan of Ten Stars or Less with his take on it
Thanks again Ryan!
release date: 27 August 2010 (Canada)
run time: 90 mins
rated: PG
considered: Comedy, Drama, Romance
director: Rob Reiner
starring: Madeline Carroll, Callan McAuliffe, Rebecca De Mornay, Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney, Penelope Ann Miller, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Weisman, Morgan Lily, Ryan Ketzner, Gillian Pfaff, Michael Boza, Beau Lerner, Jacquelyn Evola, Taylor Groothuis
movie summary: It is often said that people can fall in love at first sight. Some people find their soul mates with ease while other stumble to find their special one. Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) was only in the second grade when the cutest boy in town moved in across the street. Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe) is considered to have the best eyes in the whole school and was the main reason young Juli fell in love with him. For years she waited patiently to experience her first kiss off the lips of Bryce, except the only problem was he absolutely hated her. His family pressured him into disliking her because the way her family carried themselves, so after waiting for nothing Juli moved on. While she tried her best to hate Bryce it was only fitting that he finally started to like her back. By now the damage had been done by both kids and adults which left Bryce a huge hole to climb out of to be Juli’s first kiss.
my thoughts: The first thing that comes to mind when I think back to Flipped is how frustrated I was to find this movie online to watch. Sure plenty of sites had it available to buy a digital copy, while Amazon wouldn’t let me rent it because I live in Canada. I found another site to rent it but I had no interest in creating an account. Finally after searching numerous streaming sites, I came across the movie and got to view it this afternoon.
I offered to watch and review Flipped for the MovieRob Rob Reiner Blogathon because no one has chosen it yet and I thought it would be a charming film from watching the trailer. The movie appeared to be a funny look into the story of love at such a young age, starring the talented Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe. It’s the classic tale about a girl falling for a guy and the guy never realizing it, only to make a fool of himself to avoid her advances at all costs. When everything falls apart for him he drives a wedge so deep that when he finally comes around to dealing with his real feelings, she is not interested anymore. Amazingly this story is not sad or funny in ways you would expect, just a decent movie about overcoming differences and to not judge books by their covers.
There’s a lot to like here in Flipped and a lot to shake your head at. The budding relationship/friendship between Juli and Bryce is everything you would expect from two young kids who despise each other. On the other hand the biggest thing that drove me nuts was Bryce’s father Steven (Anthony Edwards). Wow I wish someone would have knocked that guy out. For someone who thinks really highly upon himself, he sure has the ability to start a fight with anyone over anything. He was a complete jerk and was never put in his place despite the fact so many things he says throughout the movie were beyond rude. His character is very judgmental of Juli and her family which has a major impact on the story and how Bryce should feel about her. This movie is based in the late 1960’s which draws upon some of the racial tension going on in the world at the time. Just because the Baker’s don’t have a nice house or money doesn’t make them bad people. Juli raises chickens and offers the eggs to the neighbours because she’s a caring person. Bryce realizes how sweet Juli is but doesn’t dare go against his father’s wishes and ever associate with such a girl.
The saving grace in the whole story happens to be Bryce’s grandfather Chet (John Mahoney) who develops a friendship with young Juli. Even though Chet’s helping hand across the street ruffles feathers at home, it helps plant the seed in Bryce’s mind that Juli is a wonderful person with great intentions. He’ll be a guiding hand to open Bryce’s eyes to what he feels and wants, not what anyone else wants for him. Bryce has worked since the second grade to ignore or avoid Juli, not because he hates girls, but because he has no clue what to feel or how to deal with those feelings. No one matter how hard Juli tries to reach out for him, Bryce just turns a cold shoulder. When she finally gives up and gives him the cold shoulder, he is back to square one because he has no clue what to do.
The setting of the movie is spot on and is a major prop to the movie, characters, and the flow of story. Relationships and dating were really different back then compared to today in 2015. Finding someone to be compatible with was much easier and even if you didn’t like someone at first there was always room for them to grow on you. Today everyone judges books by their covers and there are never any second chances. The beauty of Juli and Bryce’s friendship is nothing is forced and through time these two can get over their differences to become close. They are both young and reckless but there is some joy to know that what these two put the other through in six years may actually be a solid foundation for a promising relationship.
my final thoughts: This may not hit one out of the park like other Rob Reiner romance movies, but Flipped is charming enough to keep the audience engaged and interested in the outcome. The story is played out from both Juli and Bryce’s side with each character describing the details of their feelings through monologue. I was happy with my decision to watch this movie because I never even heard of it until the blogathon got posted. I enjoyed the main characters and a few of the supporting members who do a great job of telling the story of young love blossoming through a garden of weeds.
my star rating: 7 out 10
imdb: 7.7 out 10
metascore: 45/100
rottentomatoes: 55% out 100%
roger ebert: 3.5 out 4
richard crouse: 3 out 5
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