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Twelve and Holding

Play trailer Poster for Twelve and Holding R 2005 1h 34m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 78 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Of identical twin brothers Jacob (Conor Donovan) and Rudy, the latter is the more outgoing, serving as de facto leader of their group of friends. The brothers ignite the ire of some local bullies, who come to take revenge, and Rudy dies. Jacob, his parents, friends and the community must find a way to deal with their grief.

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Twelve and Holding

Twelve and Holding

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Critics Consensus

This shocking pre-teen drama manages, through realistic performances and a sense of empathy, to avoid exploitation and instead deliver something honest and haunting.

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Critics Reviews

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Sam Toy Empire Magazine The kids help get the film past its messy, low-budget look, aided by a strong ensemble of familiar adult faces. Rated: 3/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Stella Papamichael BBC.com It doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but [director Michael] Cuesta finds wry humour in tragic situations while at the same time thickening the air with quiet foreboding. Rated: 4/5 Nov 14, 2006 Full Review David Jenkins Time Out ... a film that never quite equals the sum of its many intriguing parts. Nov 9, 2006 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com An astonishing, if not flawless, sophomore effort from director Michael Cuesta. Rated: 3.5/4.0 Sep 24, 2020 Full Review Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed One of the most exceptional, down to Earth portrayals of childhood and adolescence in the face of tragedy I've ever seen... Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 19, 2007 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...generally succeeds in spite of its various deficiencies. Rated: 3/4 Jul 16, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Laurie S Hold on. Two little psychopaths chucked petrol bombs into a tree house killing a kid who burned to death and the police didn't get involved! You've got to be kidding me. The evidence was all there. Sorry, but I loathe films that aren't realistic. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 11/07/23 Full Review Audience Member What an odd movie. While I've long maintained the unpopular opinion that the first episode of Dexter is the only good one, and mostly for Cuesta's beautifully weird direction, his style is still a little too rooted in the TeeVee aesthetic to be truly great. But there is a weird, beguiling rhythm to this movie that had me pretty firmly in its grip, up until some silly third-act plot turns that turned the story from a down-to-earth character study to more of a grand tragedy, which just didn't work for me. But it's still pretty good. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Hardly a top tier entry in the "fucked up coming of age" genre, but an entry all the same, and that's not nothing. The stories start off entwined, but gradually have less and less to do with each other as the film progresses, and one of these three stories, about a boy who eats salad now, feels completely at odds with the rest of the movie. That said, Jeremy Renner does a fantastic job in supporting role, and ups and downs of the tale overall are intriguing enough to merit a recommendation. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Well-done dramedy with excellent performances from the young cast. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie was spectacular yet very haunting. It's crazy to think that one event can cause people to grow up so quickly. After a group of young teens witness a friend of theirs being burned to death in a treehouse fire by the local bullies, it changes something in each of them. Unlike most movies made today, this one felt so realistic. I could literally see people acting like they did after the fire. It was kinda unsettling at times. I don't want to go into big details about the movie because I'd hate to spoil anything, but this is one movie surely not to be missed!!! *I love these indie type films. It allows directors to go in any direction they choose, however they are not for everyone and I can understand that. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member The young actors turn in very convincing performances, but the weird thing for me was the tonal inconsistency. Often it felt like a happy bright 90s disney movie mixed with heavy adult themes of American Beauty or something like that. The story regarding the young girl's sexual awareness and how she went about her "love" crush on Jeremy Renner was just really weird and felt so out of place with the rest of the movie-it was like watching three separate movies at times even. The young fat kid's dynamic with the family was at times funny even if it was dark, but what he decides to do to his mother in the finale of his story is just so juvenile and truly evil that there's no justification for his actions. It just seemed like an exercise for the writer to design a nightmare scenario for the parents with a completely unjustified and idiotic child. And then the twin's story seemed completely unbelievable- becoming "friends" with his bully that caused his twin brother's death was at first, endearing and I thought it was gonna lead to a nice friendship-but his evil underlying scheme that leads to a murder at the end felt so left field for me. How this bully thought this kid was really going to hitch a ride to his father's state and live with him, ha! Once again, the writers are having a field day for ridiculous adult scenarios involving children. It was engrossing, sure and I like these character studies about family dynamics, relationships and mental issues but this one didn't quite mesh for me. And the ending was intentionally left open ended so as for us to fill in the blanks, but I didn't really feel like we had enough information to do so. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Twelve and Holding

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Movie Info

Synopsis Of identical twin brothers Jacob (Conor Donovan) and Rudy, the latter is the more outgoing, serving as de facto leader of their group of friends. The brothers ignite the ire of some local bullies, who come to take revenge, and Rudy dies. Jacob, his parents, friends and the community must find a way to deal with their grief.
Director
Michael Cuesta
Producer
Michael Cuesta, Leslie Urdang, Brian Bell, Jenny Schweitzer
Screenwriter
Michael Cuesta, Anthony S. Cipriano
Rating
R (Some Violence|Sexual Content Involving Minor|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
May 19, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 12, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$95.7K
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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