Best movie of this year hands down!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

One of my all time favorites.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

The story is basically a strong one, particularly because it's based on an actual person's life. But somehow in general the movie doesn't really grip the edge it should be having. One thing that I notice is that the story flow tries to beautify the movie by splitting its two acts into smaller pieces which the movie alternates in between all the entire duration. But the thing is, the alternating is done on very short durations that the feel on each act doesn't really have any adequate time to build strong in the viewers' minds. If the movie let the environments sink in for longer time, say like twenty five minutes or so before alternating, I think the impact will be far better. The acting overall is a little bit below standard. Spencer Lofranco still needs to work more on his expression which seem hyperbolic on most times. Having Ving Rhames helped a bit in giving depth to this movie.

In spite of some of the violence (not too graphically displayed in most scenes), the film was well-and-sensitively done: realistic, well- considered, edited and displayed. Although I'm not a fan of that specific genre of music, it was well-chosen for the film (nice 'trailer song'). I'm recommending it because I believe the producers and directors had a genuinely-interesting story to tell. They chose good actors, researched the history, and made action and sensitive moments believable. The time-line was a little tough to follow at first, but you eventually catch up with that. They did it well. ~Bob Shank, Tucson AZ

Gritty yet inspiring, based-upon-truth story of an angry young gangster-criminal who gets paroled, faces the hardships of being a parolee, and manages to stay out despite the temptations of going back to his old "friends" and lifestyle. In the process of it all, he discovers the catharsis of writing, something he's always halfheartedly done. The time-shifts between James as a delinquent at 14 and James as a convict several years later are well-synchronized even though his appearance hardly changes over the years. Violent with some fairly mild gore, it goes no further in those areas than is really necessary. JAMESY BOY is quite watchable, but it has neither the impact nor the originality that it aims for.Both the script of protagonist "Jamesy Boy" and Spencer Lofranco's performance as same are so-so, by-the-numbers. We simply don't get to know this character as well as we should. More on his earlier life and background might have helped. Some of the supporting cast, particularly Taissa Farmiga and Ving Rhames, give excellent performances. I agree: We see or hear very little of James's poetry and musings, and more in that area might have been a plus. Yet, the whole point seems to be that even though his writing is nothing exceptional and he doesn't have any big dreams of "making it" as a poet/author, the very act of writing still gives James a means of expression and purpose that saves him in the end.Probably worth seeing if you generally like crime drama with young gangster characters and prison settings.

Whenever a film is based on a true story there are a few guarantees. The first being the story will likely be long so the writers can embellish where they need to, and the second guarantee is that for every interesting moment in the film, you are guaranteed at least 10-20 minutes of boredom. Jamesy Boy is no different, but unfortunately while other films make up for those 10-20 minutes by using jokes or drama, Jamesy Boy just gives same old same, same old.Characters & StoryThe focus of the film is James (played by Spencer Lofranco) who is a troubled kid. He gets into fights a lot, usually falls with bad crowds, and he has been in and out of institutions since six years old. Reasons vary, but one time includes pulling a knife on his mom's boyfriend, for reasons not explained. Said mother Tracy (played by Mary-Louise Parker) is seemingly James' last hope and despite it all, she remains in his corner. However, a mother's love sometimes isn't enough, so James goes out into the world and ends up finding Roc (played by Michael Trotter).This leads to James being Roc's errand boy and him hanging with this girl name Crystal (played by Rosa Salazar) who is somewhat the village bicycle, but James' main squeeze. But, as time goes on, and James realizes he can't keep up with the gangster life, he tries to trade in Crystal for Sarah (played by Taissa Farmiga) and maybe try to live a normal life. However, with one last deal asked by Roc, everything goes to hell as Crystal snitches on him and then James ends up in prison.From there, James meets Guillermo (played by Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas) who is in a rival gang; Chris (played by Ben Rosenfield) who is the new kid on the block; and most importantly Conrad (played by Ving Rhames) who seemingly acts as some type of father figure to James. But, with all that has happened, though we see James get out of prison, and are told before the credits what has happened to the real James, you are left wondering if he will stay on the straight and narrow and prevent himself from being a statistic, or lead the life expected?PraiseWhen it comes to the film, certain scenes and elements are worth praising and act as a silver lining to the overall production. For example, it is nice to see the two Middleton co-stars Farmiga and Lofranco back together and have a little bit of romance. Also, though not always, Lofranco does well in some scenes and does show why he was casted as the lead in the film.CriticismHowever, most of the film feels like a drain on your time in which you could find something better to do. And this is not said to take anything away from the real James or those who participated in the movie, but between them jumping from before James was locked up, to him when he was; watching him as an errand boy, which may include guns and drugs, but plays out so familiar that even those moments don't wake you up; and then with most of the performances not drawing you into the story nor characters, I do feel that while the story perhaps would be interesting if told by the source, the movie portrays that story with one too many flaws to really get into it.Overall: Skip ItThough it was good to learn at the end of the movie James is doing well in his life, this to me would have been better as a documentary than as a dramatic film. For though you can see effort from the actors, there is something missing that keeps the film from having a heart and feeling like it is alive. Hence why I say to skip it. Though usually I would say something is worth watching on TV, there comes a point where a film maybe worth nothing more than experience for the cast and production crew, and background noise for the viewer. Which, sadly, is what I see Jamesy Boy as.