Parents' Guide to

True Adolescents

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Unemployed wannabe rocker forced to grow up in so-so drama.

Movie NR 2009 88 minutes
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There are some things about TRUE ADOLESCENTS that ring true. Duplass has nailed the role of a man still chasing dreams of stardom and refusing to grow up. He's optimistic but bitter and takes it out on everyone around him. No wonder he bugs just about all the people he knows. And the boys, Jake and Oliver, really do seem like best friends who depend on, and sometimes irritate, each other.

The camping-trip-gone-awry is also the kind of thing that could happen to anyone, and it's nice to see Sam step up when people are relying on him. It's almost the catalyst to help him grow. Almost. But in the end, it's not clear that he's learned anything, and the films ends pretty much in the same place it started: a portrait of a loser.

Movie Details

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