Bones (2010) Reviews

• Hidden Masterpiece

  mornay_772013-08-30

  I'm so happy when I sometimes find a hidden gem in all the trash available today. I try to watch everything with an open mind and ignore bad reviews in order to make up my own mind. Bones turned out to be much better than I anticipated and I was surprisingly drawn into the lives of the characters from the very beginning. Jimmy Bennett shines as always, and his acting does get better and better with every movie he's in. The story was well written and the characters didn't need a long back story in order for you to identify with them. The soundtrack suited the tone of the movie and added to the gripping storyline. No movie is perfect and Bones does have it's faults, but in my opinion, the good way outnumbers the bad in this title.

• The Ultimate Movie Review! - http://tss5078.blogspot.com - @tss5078

  Tss50782013-03-15

  Bones is a terrific independent film, that tells the coming of age story of a group of friends, and the tragic events at the end of summer vacation, that will forever change their young lives. This film brings Jimmy Bennett back together with Jesse James, for the first time since 2005's remake of The Amityville Horror and their chemistry is evident right from the very beginning. Ultimately, Bennett is the star of the film and gives a phenomenal, heart-wrenching performance as young Bones. Bennett has been acting pretty much since birth and he really gets better and better every time I see him in something. What I really liked about this film was that for the first time you really get to see Bennett be himself, a rock n' roll loving teen, making friends, and having fun. A lot of times young actors like him get tight cast as the dopey son with some cute lines and it was a real treat to see Bennett get the chance to open up and just be himself. As for the story, it is the debut from Writer/Director, Frank Pestarino, and I was shocked when I found that out. The quality of the story and the level of writing here are truly ingenious, if this is Pestarino's very first project, I can't wait to see what else he has waiting for us. Pestarino, quite successfully blends teen culture with a serious dramatic theme, and if that wasn't hard enough, he put the whole story in era twenty-five years earlier and used a cast of mostly young and inexperienced actors. Even legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde has a major role in this film and manages to give a great performance. Bones has a lot of things going for it, from it's refreshing young cast to it's ingenious writing, it's ninety minutes of pure drama that can rival anything you will see on the big screen this year.

• good, but less could have been more

  JamieWJackson2015-01-12

  I enjoyed this movie, for the most part. However, I wanted to love it, and it didn't rise to that level. *** SPOILER ALERT *** The main problem I have is with the ongoing deaths. What I mean in my summary of "less being more" is that with each death the story felt less real to me. I was increasingly expecting the next one, and the impact of each successive one was lessened as a result. "One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." So I would have preferred fewer deaths, to make those which do happen mean more and to keep me emotionally engrossed. Also, I guessed the "twist" revealed at the end as soon as the rifle was mentioned, because nobody else would have had the motive to kill both of the boys, and a rifle is a distance weapon, which fit in with the killer being someone the boys didn't know. *** END SPOILAGE *** Aside from that, I liked pretty much everything here. Zakk's acting was sufficient, if not impressive. Everyone else did well, and some moments were genuinely moving. The story, the above complaints notwithstanding, was engaging. I cared about the characters. Classic rock is my favorite music, and heavy metal is up there too, so the soundtrack was great for me and fit the movie well. If what bothered me about this one doesn't bother you, you'll probably really like it a lot, as some of the other reviewers have. There is a lot to like.

• Wanted to like this

  jackbutler-447332015-08-11

  I wanted to like this because it takes me back to a time when life was easy. Love period piece movies. So when I saw Zakk Wylde was in it I knew I had to check it out. While Zakk is the man, a funny guy and incredible guitarist the fact comes down to he can't act. Sometimes the movie rambled along with dialogue that was improvised as they went along. Retakes maybe could have happened a little more. Without giving anything away Zakk plays the uncle of a guitar prodigy, who he feels is wasting his talent when he should be out west starting a band, I know, silly. Zakk's character felt he missed out on his chance to be Ozzy's guitarist, see what it did there? So he tells this kid to chase his dreams as the next guitar god. The kid has some things happen along the way and at the end Zakk and a young girl appear to do what would only be considered...weird. To put it simply it really is a bad movie which is a shame as I wanted to like it. Nothing more I can say except thankfully Zakk still plays music and he is much better on soundtracks.

• Great story. Terrible execution.

  ligorio2014-09-05

  I would love someone to remake this movie, as I believe it has the potential to be a great film. Overall the movie seems disjointed and rushed. Character development was practically non-existent. The acting was terrible, which to be honest wouldn't have bothered me as much, if the editing had been better. I will give it high marks for being gritty and fairly realistic, other than the acting. Definitely not your usual Hollywood teen movie. One other thing that really bothered me was the fact that the movie tried to pass off a California city (dry river and all), for Long Island, NY. The entire movie I found myself thinking "what are these Guido's doing in Compton?".