Parents' Guide to

The World Made Straight

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Mature coming-of-age adaptation has violence, drugs.

Movie R 2015 119 minutes
The World Made Straight Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT is based on award-winning author Ron Rash's coming-of-age novel about Travis Shelton (Jeremy Irvine), a 17-year-old high school dropout living in a small Appalachian mountain town in the 1970s. Travis, who can't keep a job, finds more than he bargained for when he stumbles upon his town's marijuana crop, harvested by local drug-dealing thug Carlton Toomey (Steve Earle) and his violent son, Hubert (Marcus Hester). At first Travis doesn't encounter them, so he grabs some cannabis and enlists his friend (Haley Joel Osment) to help him unload it to Leonard, aka "The Professor" (Noah Wyle), a disgraced former teacher turned petty moonshiner and drug dealer. But after Travis goes back to steal more marijuana, he gets stuck in a bear trap set by the Toomeys. Once he's out of the hospital, Travis' father throws him out of the house, and he ends up asking Leonard whether he can stay at his place. Leonard reluctantly agrees and starts mentoring Travis and teaching him about how his ancestors were a group of Southern Unionists who were massacred during the Civil War. As Travis reflects on his past, he also starts making strides to be a better man than his father ... if only the Toomeys would leave him and Leonard alone.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1):

This story could have made a great film, with its Cold Mountain-meets-Winter's Bone overtones, but the subplots, flashbacks, and historical themes don't translate smoothly to the screen. The connection to the Shelton Laurel Massacre (the horrible and unsanctioned killing of 13 neighboring Unionists by vengeful Confederates) is interesting, but the movie never really fleshes out why Travis becomes so obsessed with the atrocity. And Travis' relationship with Lori (Adelaide Clemens), a candy striper he meets while he's hospitalized, isn't substantively developed, so it seems more like a crush than love.

On the bright side, the performances are all great, particularly Irvine's -- who, despite being English, manages a Southern accent better than American-born Wyle. But since Leonard was a teacher, it's easy to believe that he'd have shed some of his Appalachian twang. And Wyle skillfully plays a man whose life as a teacher-father-husband was ruined but who finds new purpose in mentoring young Travis to learn about the past and connect to the future. Earle, foremost a musician, is quite memorable as the creepy, bearded local drug lord. There are enough compelling plot points to keep audiences interested, but the movie as a whole isn't particularly memorable.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the popularity of coming-of-age tales. Why are stories about adolescents on the verge of adulthood so compelling? What are some of your favorite coming-of-age movies?

  • Travis' community is filled with smoking and drugs and the threat of violence. How are the movie's portrayals of drugs and violence different or similar to the way they show up in other movies? Was the drug use glamorized? Did it look like these characters led appealing lifestyles?

  • How does history play a role in this rural community and in the main characters' lives? Do you think it's realistic that people would still have an "us versus them" attitude more than a century after the Civil War?

Movie Details

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