Memorable, crazy movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I so badly wanted to like this movie. I mean, I could look at Zoe Kravitz all day, Jason Clarke is my guy for The Chicago Code and the trailer really hooked me. But I just couldn't deal with the constant feeling that this was just a really really badly edited film. It had a lot going for it. The cast is really solid, the acting is there and it's not one of those navel-gazing angst movies. Real, big, serious things things happen that make it more than a generic, "growing up in a broken home sucks" movie.But...I can't help but feel like it wasn't exactly put together or presented in a really effective way. Almost every single scene felt like each cut didn't match the music, cut awkwardly, lingered too long, didn't switch to a medium shot when it really needed to. The editing wouldn't match the flow of the dialogue. But that's nitpicking. On a bigger level, It felt like things just happened. Something would happen that so easily could've been hinted at or foreshadowed ahead of time, but they just didn't. You could honestly move most of the scenes around and it'd make as much sense. But it's just aimless and random and the scenes were so isolated. It felt like the characters never referenced anything that happened before the scene they're in or was gonna happen in any scene later on. Every other scene you were left wondering, over and over again, "why?" or "that's it?" or "really?."You couldn't follow any character all the way through and have it be a satisfying story. People disappear, reappear, show up for random scenes, mean less, mean a lot and just get underused over and over again. Every time you realize what they're trying to get across or say with a character, all you're left wondering is...well why didn't they just put a little scene of ______ that'd lead to where we're at now? They had so many powerful relationships and symbols and places and situations to do something with, but most of the time, the movie just wanted to show you them, so that you knew they were there. It's not really a narrative, it's a disjointed diorama. It's pieces of a movie. The parts don't move. They don't push the next domino forward or explain how one thing influenced the next or is connected. They're just there, because these things happened?My favorite scenes were when she took care of her dad after he came home drunk and bloody, when her mom first came home, and when her sister came home with the baby. But it felt like all of her family was underused, thrown away at times and sloppily handled. I felt like there was SO much there, to tell a story about how people were constantly hurting her, leaving her, and coming back when life beat them back down. But it instead they each felt like 5 minute short films that were only really connected, because the same actors and sets were involved.I think...with stronger editing, it could've come together better, but it just felt like the script or the director wasn't ready, or it needed a strong producer to ask those little questions that'd pull the film together. Instead, this is kind of a lighter, choppier Precious, that doesn't do as good a job setting up it's wants, characters, story lines, themes, or narrative. And I really wanted to like this.I'd recommend watching Precious, Thirteen, Kidulthood, Half Nelson or Love & Basketball if you were interested in this.

First, I'm going to put out there for no particular reason that this is my first IMDb review and unfortunately, my first review won't be positive. I'm not going to sugar-coat any of this but unless you want to waste or otherwise throw away 96 minutes of your life, do not watch this film. The main thing I'm upset about is that I actually PAID to see this movie (I saw this on YouTube) and ended up being disappointed and was not a very happy customer at all.I mean, I DESPERATELY wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the SXSW trailer on YouTube a couple of years ago, so you can tell how really mad i am. Seriously? I had to force myself to watch it all the way through and not to fall asleep though it because again, I PAID for this movie with my own money!The movie is boring, it's hard to follow the story of the film. I mean, you already know the plot as it's all over the internet that it's about this teenage biracial girl trying to survive in her crime-infested inner-city neighborhood by partnering up with her Black boyfriend by selling drugs and doing crime. But that's all you can really get out of the movie, really.The plot points of this film did not (I'll repeat) DID NOT make sense at all. First, why is Roland buying food for Ola and Sweetness?There was also a scene where Sweetness is having sex with some guy in Ola's car. Afterwards, we don't see how but somehow or another the car just... crashes! Her sister, Ola, is understandably mad about Sweetness (Ola blamed Sweetness anyway) ruining a car that took her two years to buy but from what we'll see throughout the rest of the film, Ola is being all playful and friendly with her sister and seems to be all friendly to Sweetness after the car wreck. I mean, not promoting resentment or ill will but Ola should at least make her pay to get the car fixed or a new one. And why did those thugs shoot Roland to death? Did a drug deal he was involved in go wrong?I mean, I would have to go back and watch the movie AGAIN to cover EVERYTHING that went wrong, but I won't even bother.If there's anything POSITIVE I have to say about this movie, it's that the acting is ON POINT, especially from Zoe Kravitz, who portrays Sweetness O'Hara, the lead role. Antonique Smith is not a bad looking girl herself! As a fan of Gabourey Sidibe, I appreciate her appearance in this movie but it was much too short.I did like the scene in the movie where after Latonya's girls (Latonya is Gabourey Sidibe's character) turn against her to be Sweetness' friends, Sweetness beats up Latonya in the middle of the school hallway and even that scene was unbelievable. I mean, look at Latonya and look at Sweetness... REALISTICALLY Latonya could've VERY EASILY landed Sweetness in a hospital somewhere for obvious reasons, and later on in the movie Sweetness is all "Oh, I'm sorry, Latonya! It was wrong!"Uh, Sweetness! Are you actually doing those drugs you were selling, of course it was wrong but you were getting your revenge! You took her friends from her and beat the mess out of her AFTER all the horrible things you've done to her! Why are you apologizing to her?Now the ending, don't even get me started on the ending. Toward the ending the father follows Sweetness home from school every day because he wants to be back in her life and be a better father. That sure ain't the way. The movie ends with Sweetness crying in her father's arms... for no particular reason (please do correct me if I'm wrong). Wow... just wow...This movie wouldn't be have as bad if it had better story-flow, give Gabourey Sidibe more screen time and the film a better ending.I'm gonna give the movie a 3 because of the acting and that it made me a fan of Kravitz, Smith. And I'm already a Sidibe fan but I'm actually being far too nice. I should actually give it a "1" even with the good acting.Bottom line: Would I recommend this movie to others? Absolutely not. Thanks for reading my review but now you can do yourself the favor of saving your money and 96 minutes of your life. I'm sure Mahoney can step up her writing in her future films.

This movie portrayed a clean version of trying to stay sane in the hood and learning to live with an alcoholic father. Through Hollywood there are many movies you may see that glamorize hood life, but so many few can capture the coexistence and survival of the family part of it like this movie has. The optimistic ending gives me hope for the character portrayed in this movie that she can and will live a very productive life despite the dysfunctional family setting. All too often a dysfunctional lifestyle mixed with drug use and alcohol is a death sentence, however this movie shows that it's never too late to change and turn yourself around inspite of your surroundings and upbringing. This movie gives me Hope and related to me so much in my real life that it's almost scary. Thanks for allowing me to post this and I hope I didn't spoil it for you. You just gotta see it to understand what I'm saying... Enjoy!

Victoria Mahoney is herself and made the first feature film depicting the lives of children of a "mixed-race" couple (citation Mahoney). Sweetness (played by Zoe Kravitz, daughter of Lenny Kravitz) is the name of an adolescent girl who is being the subject of racism from both sides, black and white. Her father (white) is a manic-depressive, violent alcoholic, while her mother seems on the edge of killing herself. When her older sister finally leaves the house to give birth to a child, Sweetness decides to turn around and be the bully instead of being bullied. This movie has not gotten a lot of appreciation or positive reviews by the media. Unrightfully so! I find it to be a powerful and intriguing movie with a lot of almost physically tangible anger and heart. Also stars Gabourey Sidibe in a small role.