What was 'so moving' about this film?


I don't understand what about Dito's story am I suppose to sympathize with. and I wasn't woved at all. Okay its a story of indulgence and ingnorance. He wanted to escape the stress, but what gets me, is it was created by the people he was associated with. Antonio wasn't much of a friend, his actions almost leading to Dito dying. His father seem to care more for Antonio than his own son.

What I'm asking is, if this movie is a coming of age story can someone point the truth of this story and how its valid.

I get it he was shy, everything around him is of unconscious chaos that consumed him. But what "love" was to be found with the people involved in his life. He had his reasons to leave. The movie just doesn't do a good job of why he must come to terms with anything. What understanding did he gain?

The movie's of recognizing the people that hold significance in your life. What did any relationship add to his life.

Maybe its not the story thats flawed, but the screenplay has important holes that keep this movie from being complete.

At least with "KIDS" you left moved that unconscious is detrimental to one's life and society.

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the irony of misspelling ignorance aside, i think anyone growing up in a dysfunctional house, living in areas where peoples lives go nowhere fast can relate to this. the urge to break free, feeling trapped in your own community, in your own home. i thought the movie did a great job of portraying the sadness, the struggle, the anger, and the helplessness of these peoples lives. that line about Laurie still being on "her corner" afer all these years always breaks my heart. very rarely have i seen characters as real as these, or relationships as developed as this put on screen.

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What was 'so moving' about this film?


I did enjoy the movie overall (6/10) but i gotta say Giuseppe's death was quite something. I didn't see it coming, it took me by surprise and shocked me. What a pointless horrible stupid death... I thought "Gee Antonio really can't catch a break." Your brother dying like that? In front of you and "because" of you? What a tragedy. Stupid, yes, but still a tragedy.

I found that moving.


People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefsī²

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Each person's experience is different. Dito's experience, whether good or bad, were his experiences. His experiences, like everyone's, effect his own life and those from his childhood. Going back to that is hard. Imagine going back to your teenage years. I mean, if you're older than a teenager.

Life is a struggle, and there are good times and bad.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm trying to say but this: a life is unique and emotional, and everyone has one.

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You seem to be looking for an intentional message or a moral to the story, so I think you're looking for something that Dito (writer / director) never had in mind. The movie is simply presenting the fact that many people are born into difficult and sometimes miserable conditions and different people will deal with that differently. I think Dito just wanted to tell the truth and hopefully have other people be moved by the reality of it. Your style here seems to be one of only judging the characters behavior and coming to a conclusion about how they should have responded to their conditions. With that approach, a movie is only successful if it reflects your personal values or style. This kind of movie is not looking for empathy, it's just telling the truth about how things are for some people in an entertaining way.

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It moved me because I could relate with the main character. I left everyone and everything and moved to another country to be too far away to be reached. I wish I had the guts to cut the relationships also but I don't want to be that cruel.. Though in my heart those relationships are over, I don't feel much for those people... just keeping in touch for them... They are not leaving me though I left them...
I have a complicated relationship with my father... I think Dito was wrong, he had a good father... At least his father was talking to him and could tell him how he feels about him.. Also I would like if my father would be such a great person to support a boy (Antonio) who has no one to tell him they love him... That was an unnecessary jealousy from Dito's side...

My father doesn't talk to me much... Almost not talking with me :( I don't know what he thinks or feels about me and that's killing me... I wrote him a letter telling him that I love him and he is the best for me but got no answer and so I thought I guess my letter was really stupid and now I feel stupid... Anyway...

Dito could leave those streets but it was unnecessary to leave his parents... They were good people...

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Moving story, me-ga-sa. Tough deal, mate, good luck with that relationship in the future. Clearly the film hit some raw nerves with you. Me too, but maybe not so directly as in your case.

As for Monty and Dito, I can't agree that Dito was wrong, I can't say that either of them was wrong. They just couldn't communicate and Dito needed to get out of there. Fair enough! He would have ended up dead - very likely - or a drug addict if he had stayed. It's a shame he couldn't have left with his father's blessing and stayed close with him from a distance, but it couldn't work out that way because of his father's inability to listen to Dito and support him according to his needs instead of trying to mold him according to his own beliefs and needs - and I don't mean this as a criticism of Monty - he was acting with the best of intentions and in the only way he knew. Still, there was hope, in the end, of Monty and Dito coming to understand each other and becoming close again. It's just too sad that so much pain and misunderstanding had to go down before that was possible. A lot of older guys don't know how to communicate on personal, sensitive issues at all because of the way they were raised, and that's probably a lot worse for them than it is for those who want to be closer to them because they have to bottle it all up and act tough even if they're dying inside. What a *beep* stupid waste! I mean in wartime, sure, it makes sense to suppress it all and stay tough, but day to day? Man, it's just sad.

But it is what it is. And life goes on. And we are a different species to our fathers. Because we live in a different world. And still we hope.


I wanna find out why I'm working - the answer can't be just to pay bills and pile up more money.

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"In the end - just like I said - I left everything, and everyone. But no one, no one has ever left me."
This made me shed a tear and stare into space for a while. I guess it reminded me of what I was doing at that time in my life.

I don't believe this movie is for everyone, and maybe not overall as moving as it was for me.
But to see actors go all out and burn through the screen itself is moving. Plus I like the way it was shot. It seemed real and stood out from all the other Hollywood crap. This is true emotion and my opinion won't ever change.
This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It's quite a long list, but it's there none the less.

Furthermore Robert Downey Jr. has always hit a chord with me and this movie opened my eyes to Shia LaBeouf and Channing Tatum being some of the candidates for next generation's line of fantastic actors.
Built around them are great great unknowns to me, but they delivered a damn fine job, and the force of the characters are astonishing.

=============
"Now you got some real tears going.
That's the stuff accolades are made of."

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[deleted]

Such a a fantastic movie! Try watching it again in a few years. Also, I watched the "making of" before watching it, which gave me a general of what to expect.

My fitness recommended it to me. We mostly talk about movies. Such a great recommendation!

Also, Bobby Sager, one of the executive producers, lives in my building!!!

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I wasn't moved at all by this movie, neither. "Oh my, those guys grown up in poor neighbourhood, it's so touching, I might cry over this moving coming of age movie!" - except not. It was boring, unoriginal, and I did not care about the characters. I couldn't wait for it to finish. Such a waste of Robert and Shia. Very overrated movie.

Boycott movies that involve real animal violence! (and their directors too)

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Movies are subjective. I have friends that I know would not like this movie or get this movie. It would like the kids in this movie watching a movie about the stress and pressure college kids have competing for spots on the cricket team. They would not get it or relate in any way.

Some movies can bridge the gap but it is rare.

I grew up in this environment and this movie made me mad,sad and happy at various times. I hated guys like Antonio but had to deal with them on a daily basis. My life now is many years removed from those days but it is still in me.

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Good Movie

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