Twelve and Holding

United States

2005

94 Min

Color

1.85:1

English

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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EXEC Mike Downey, Frank Frattaroli, Michael Hoffman, Doug Mankoff, Michael Nozik, Amy Robinson

PROD Brian Bell, Michael Cuesta, Jenny Schweitzer, Leslie Urdang

CAST Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho, Zoe Weizenbaum, Jeremy Renner, Annabella Sciorra, Linus Roache, Merritt Wever

This movie tells three (different, but united) stories. The main story tells about two twelve-year-old twins, Rudy, a brave and confident boy, and Jacob, the shy and scared brother who often makes a retreat. Also in that night when the brave Rudy meets with his friend Leonard “Lenny” in their treehouse. They want to take revenge to their bullies Kenny and Jeff. But they have another plan, they want to burn down their treehouse without the knowledge that the boys are inside there. A bad accident results that Rudy dies and Lenny is admitted to a hospital. Jacob the survived twin tries to cope with the situation and step by step he becames braver and has the intention to kill Kenny and Jeff who have killed Rudy by accident. The second story begins when Lenny wakes up in the hospital. He can taste nothing anymore. So the medical stuff advise him to eat more healthy things, so he can lose weight by the way. Also his school sport coach gives him the same advice. That was his personal start to change his nourishment and to make sport. Even that he wants to influence his mother who is also fat. The third story tells about Malee, a friend from (deceased Rudy,) Jacob and Lenny. She was on Rudy’s funeral and after she went to her mother’s psychotherapy office. There she meets on Gus Maitland a patient from her mother. But she gradually is falling in love to him and wants to meet him more often, but when she wants more than “only a friendship” he rejects her love. –IMDb

Director

Michael Cuesta

Michael Cuesta (Born July 8, 1963 in New York) is an American film and television director. He received a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in 1985.

Cuesta co-wrote (with Stephen Ryder and Gerald Cuesta) and directed the 2001 independent film, L.I.E. which starred Paul Dano, Brian Cox, Billy Kay, and Bruce Altman. L.I.E. received critical acclaim and two Independent Spirit Awards at the Sundance Film Festival.

His film L.I.E. actually led him to become a veteran director for the HBO original series, Six Feet Under which aired from 2001–05. According to executive producer Alan Poul, “During the second season, we had hired a director for the fourth episode, but he fell out one week before the start of pre-production. Alan Ball and I were alarmed, but that night we went to see L.I.E., and it was a revelation. The next morning we booked Michael. He’s a fantastic fit for the show.” Michael Cuesta became a regular director during the 2002 season of Six Feet Under… read more

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Meadow Square

20Mar12

I could not imagine i would like this film so much. I had it at home for 4 yeaors or so and I´ve watched it just randomly. Its delicate but strong. Its good to see that u still find some good stories.

Amani

26Feb11

nice little indie gem. I loved Leonard's arc the most, no wait, Malee's, no, I mean Jacob's. they were all good. recommend the 90 mins of deep, quirky, beauty yes I shall.

Rina

17Oct10

For some strange reason I went into this expecting a poor man’s Stand by Me but it certainly isn't. It's a precious, unique, little gem of a film that makes me smile and moves me to tears at the same time. The cast is magnificent.

Christopher Smith

6Apr10

Walks an awkward balance between earnest drama and offbeat comedy, and most of the time it works. One of the storylines wasn't quite as interesting as the other two, and the performances, especially from the child actors, were uneven – some were excellent, others went too over the top, and it kind of slows down and falls apart by the end. But overall, a unique and inventive indie film.