It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I though this would be the typical sports movie with excitement and a talent story (we tend to enjoy those). But it's a B movie or a TV film movie. It's very predictable from the beginning. The acting is very bad. The filming is bad. There is just no story to tell. Don't waste your time.

Anthony (Taylor John Smith) attends St. Anthony's diverse school in NYC. He is the star of the basketball team and is looking at attending Cornell. His father is a college professor (Michael Shannon) with minor alcohol and major gambling issues which weighs on Anthony's tuition, etc. Anthony's problems compound as the film goes on until it gets to the point he has to step up and go above and beyond.This is a high school basketball drama. The film uses the N-word in a less than racist, and causal manner, that does not go unnoticed and corrected. I thought Taylor John Smith was less compelling in his star role than his support cast. Michael Shannon provided us with a complex antagonist, a role that sometimes take center court and front of the DVD cover.Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.

I could never understand how a parent would do harm to his own child to pay for his gambling debts. I've read in Chinese history that the adult parents were so hungry during the famine, so they exchanged their children with each other or one another to eat them, they could not eat their own children so they exchange theirs with others' kids to make them easier to kill. When a new lion got rid of the old dominant lion and became the leader, he usually would try every possible way and opportunity to kill the pubs not from him. (*Partially spoiler)In this film, we encountered a father who purposely hurt his son, a promising high school basketball star, and betting his son's team to lose in order to win a lot of money to pay for his gambling debts. This is the first time I witnessed such lowest parenthood in a movie making it quite memorable. There's one other thing that bother me a lot from this film: Almost all the white boys got black girl friends which again inevitably made me think that movie industry in America purposely try their best to brain wash the viewers to promote the 'Melting Pot' crap.

The title: Wolves. 1. The name of a high school basketball team with a star player up for college recruitment. 2. Predators that viciously exploit human addictions. 3. Pseudo Protectors that devour our hopes and dreams.There are many wolves in this film, feeding in subtle and not so subtle ways.It's a film that shows us how easily our human weaknesses can destroy all that we love. Yet, even when redemption is possible, we also see how some are beyond redemption. Such is the role of Michael Shannon as the father- who is extremely good at playing the wolf in sheep's clothing.The plot has some cliché moments and the ending is wrapped up far too neatly for my liking however overall it's a very good film.Considering what's out there in theatres at the moment, Wolves is top on my watch list.