If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A story that is believable and told in a quiet civilized manner. Some of the other reviews here are needlessly harsh.But because it involves 2 boys who find each other and are attracted to each other some viewers loose their common sense. It's well worth watching. Don't expect A class acting but the story is handled well.

I've seen and compared them all--Watercolors, Departure, For My Brother, Latter Days, Monster Pies, Brokeback Mountain, Newcastle, A Single Man, Sons, L.I.E., Beautiful Thing, North Sea Texas, Mysterious Skin, Milk, Closet Monster, Hidden Kisses, The Boys, Hidden Away, Holding the Man, The Way He Looks, Dream Boy, The Journey of Jared Price...you name it, and THIS movie, Akron, ranks above them all. In virtually every category imaginable, it shines. It has extremely attractive young actors who understand their trade. It features passion and frequent heart-wrenching emotion. The plot is well-conceived and carries tension throughout. The filming and production are professional. It has everything, really, except a lot of nudity. It doesn't even become tiresome on a second or third viewing, because the acting is so superb and the emotional power so strong.Edmund Donovan and Matthew Frias are brilliant in their portrayal of Chris and Benny, two college freshmen who fall in love at the University of Akron, but who prove to be as star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet, though unwittingly so at first. By the worst luck imaginable, they learn that they are linked by a tragic event involving their mothers that occurred 12 years before they met.Don't be fooled by the rural settings used in the movie. It's not an apple farm yawner like Fair Haven. This film has pace and is supported by powerful chemistry between two young and very talented actors. The supporting cast members, especially Andrea Burns and Amy Da Luz who play the boys' mothers, bring extra power to the script.Akron's IMDb rating of 6.0 (and lower in the recent past) kept me from watching it until recently, and what a huge mistake that was. It's every bit the equal of Departure and Brokeback Mountain and moves at a quicker tempo than either. You'll wonder, as I do, why its IMDb rating isn't closer to 8.0. Clearly, it suffered from under-promotion upon release. It is one truly beautiful film.

Benny is a gay child of Mexican parents and has just started at the University of Akron as a freshman. He gets roped into playing a game of American Football with his 'besty' girlfriend and after he meets, the rather dashing, Christopher. They like each other straightaway and just go for it.The fly in the lovebirds ointment is that deep in the past of their respective mothers there was a tragic incident that will now become a barrier to them being able to stay together.Now that is the synopsis and there are some things that I really liked. There is no homophobia or overly dramatic 'coming out' scene which marks this as 'progressive gay cinema' apparently. I just thought it was dealing with other issues – and it really is – their sexuality is just happenstance to the plot.The issues that the two boys face would just as equally be a problem had they been a boy and a girl. The issue with the film itself is how it is all worked out. You will love or loathe this one. This is not a sexathon either and the bedroom scenes I am being a bit generous with my marking but that is because they all do a more than above average job and I quite liked the whole thing.

The movie has a captivating plot (with an amazing coincidence that is a characteristic of usual Korean dramas). But I couldn't help but feel a backdrop of sermonizing, self-delusion, and undeveloped morality.It's pretty clear that we are supposed to sympathize with the mother, and later admire her for her forgiveness. But whom is she forgiving, and for what? She is angry at everyone but herself about the tragedy that occurred when by rights she was the person most responsible for it. She was the caretaker of the children that day and I fully expected her to have an epiphany that she was blaming everyone else because she was unable to forgive herself or acknowledge her ultimate blame. But that never came - we were left with her being some sort of hero of forgiveness when the people she forgave never deserved blame in the first place. Forgiveness is an act of condescension, a putting of oneself into a position of judgement. We are supposed to admire her act of self-aggrandizement. The movie ends without any resolution of her guilt and the message that sometimes we just need to forget. A bit of insight by the people involved would have raised the jejune level of human psychology displayed.