Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Thoughtful family drama has some teen drinking/drug use.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Stuck in Love
What's the Story?
Divorced father William Borgens (Greg Kinnear) is an acclaimed writer who pines for his ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly) and sleeps with a married neighbor (Kristen Bell). Rather than writing anything new, William spends time coaching his teen son, Rusty (Nat Wolff), and 19 year-old daughter, Samantha (Lily Collins), in their writing careers. Samantha believes in sleeping around and not falling in love, and this attitude shows in her soon-to-be-published book, while Rusty is more sensitive and looking for true love. Luckily, the object of his affections, Kate (Liana Liberato), notices him when he writes a poem about her, and nice guy Lou (Logan Lerman) manages to catch Samantha. But love has a way of making things even more complicated.
Is It Any Good?
The movie's deep, multi-faceted characters result in terrific performances by the entire cast. Many movies about writers wind up taking a passive approach as the writer character sits back, observes, and records life as it happens around him or her. Writer/director Josh Boone has solved this dilemma with his complex, emotional portrait of family of writers. STUCK IN LOVE isn't really about the act of writing itself but rather the struggle with how much a writer needs to open up his or her heart to the world. The characters show varying degrees of this struggle, as well as the pain that can be associated with all of them. This is obviously Boone's strength.
Boone's visual style, too, is mainly in service of the characters, without any fancy flourishes. Where the movie steps wrong is in the subplot about a teen drug addict. Those scenes collapse into melodrama, shattering the movie's spell. But Stuck in Love quickly rights itself into a satisfying full circle.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Stuck in Love depicts drinking, smoking, and drugs. Are there realistic/believable consequences? Does the movie make them look appealing or repulsive?
Why is Samantha so interested in sex without love? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.
How much have these characters opened up to life? To what degree were they hurt? Does this movie make you want to be closed off and protected, like Samantha or hopeful like Rusty?
Does Stuck in Love make you want to become a writer? What are the struggles versus the rewards?
Movie Details
- In theaters : July 5, 2013
- On DVD or streaming : October 8, 2013
- Cast : Greg Kinnear , Lily Collins , Nat Wolff
- Director : Josh Boone
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Millennium Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 97 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language, teen drug and alcohol use, and some sexual content
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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