This movie could have been cute and heart-warming, and I was honestly looking forward to it a lot, but it's unfortunately a total mess. I honestly don't really have anything positive to say about it.
The dialogue and is flat and insipid. The acting is wooden and unconvincing (especially the kid who plays Dante). The boys have absolutely no chemistry with each other. Plot threads are either hammered home again and again (we get it: Ari's parents don't want to talk about his brother) or dropped willy-nilly (the whole thing with the car accident resolves immediately and is never mentioned again).
Most importantly, this movie is kind of... rape-y. I don't say this flippantly. In the film, Ari gives Dante absolutely no reason to think he might be interested in him, or even in boys in general. Dante asks Ari to kiss him, and then pressures him when he says no. He asks Ari to justify his reasoning, gets him high, suggests that they strip to their underwear for fun, and then forcibly kisses him while he resists and protests. The movie apparently thinks this is very romantic and sweet or something, and that is truly wild. If Ari were a girl, and her male friend refused to take "no" for an answer, this movie would never have seen the light of day.
The dialogue and is flat and insipid. The acting is wooden and unconvincing (especially the kid who plays Dante). The boys have absolutely no chemistry with each other. Plot threads are either hammered home again and again (we get it: Ari's parents don't want to talk about his brother) or dropped willy-nilly (the whole thing with the car accident resolves immediately and is never mentioned again).
Most importantly, this movie is kind of... rape-y. I don't say this flippantly. In the film, Ari gives Dante absolutely no reason to think he might be interested in him, or even in boys in general. Dante asks Ari to kiss him, and then pressures him when he says no. He asks Ari to justify his reasoning, gets him high, suggests that they strip to their underwear for fun, and then forcibly kisses him while he resists and protests. The movie apparently thinks this is very romantic and sweet or something, and that is truly wild. If Ari were a girl, and her male friend refused to take "no" for an answer, this movie would never have seen the light of day.