Skipped Parts

Skipped Parts-1080P

Skipped Parts-1080P

This movie is so awful that it is hard to decide where to start when criticizing it, as it fails on so many levels. It doesn't have any likeable characters, it fails to entertain, it fails to provide an accurate portrayal of the early 1960's, and it fails to provide any type of positive message. About the only thing it does well is misrepresent what life was like in America in 1963. The characters are all extreme stereotypes. The viewer is supposed to believe that the children are smarter than all of the adults, but at the same time the children manage to find plenty of trouble by acting foolishly. The sad thing is that the actors turned in good performances, but it was pointless as the movie seemed to be written with the "life sucks so why even try to be decent" mentality. Don't even rent it.

"Skipped Parts" takes on the difficult comedy/drama genre and flops. Telling of one boy's coming of sexual age, this film could have been a solid study of teenage sex issues and rites of passage. Instead, it plays as a convoluted, bland, and ill-focused mess of silliness, stiff acting, post card scenery, dream sequences, and out-of-nowhere nonsense lacking the finesse required to weave an engaging story from the comedy and drama components resulting in a marginally entertaining watch and a story with a difficult buy-in. Only for the most easily influenced sentimentalists. (C-)

It's been almost a week since I saw this movie but I can't figure out whether it's view of the world is liberal or reactionary, libertarian or determinist. One of it's central themes is the importance of discussing sexuality with pubescents, one that the movie doesn't shirk from discussing openly itself but doesn't seem to advise others to do. Whether the movie is wilfully ambiguous and trying to start an honest debate on the issues it raises or just confused itself is a moot point. A previous comment indicates that the movie was slated for release in September 2000 but I think it may have been withheld until after the Presidential election in the US, as it's the sort of thing the "moral majority" seize upon as an example of Hollywood filth, though I found it deeply moralistic. I'm making this seem like a deeply serious movie, but actually it's main thrust is comic. It's got some excellent acting, particularly among the young members of the cast, and JJL is radiant as usual. Check it out, let me know what u think of it's moral stance if u want.

A book that makes you fall completely head-over-heels for its main character because of his wit and self-deprecating charm should not result in a movie that conjures the same character as an uneven, somewhat arrogant pest. I can accept that the film won't be able to transport the viewer the way the words on the page can, but the sad part is that this movie never even comes close. In the book, Sam Callahan is heartwarming. He's a kid you want to get to know. You want to reassure him that it's okay to be this awkward when you're 13, and that everyone's adolescence (or most people's, anyway) are miserable. You laugh when he cracks a joke or lets you in on one of his precocious personal witticisms. You're moved when he talks about the Kennedy assassination from an intelligent but still hopelessly naive point of view. He eases the shock of sexual experimentation and of Maury's teenage pregnancy and takes you right into the reality of dealing with the consequences - of kids and adults thrown into circumstances that would make anyone grow up. But maybe it's too tall an order for film. Maybe the topics are too sensitive and the inner monologue is too hard to convey. Isn't it almost always the case that the movie adaptations of books fall on their faces to some extent? Sure. The problem is that this movie is still terrible. It hits so far away from what made the book enjoyable that you have to be a little bit irritated at the filmmakers for even trying. My advice if you're thinking about renting/buying this is to put your money away and read this book. (I got it from Netflix, and I seriously considered scratching the words "read the book" into the back of the DVD before I sent it back.) The book will give you a week of solid enjoyment, and that beats two hours of confusion and nausea pretty much any day.

I ran across this quirky little film, and decided to take a chance on it because of the cast: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Jason Lee, and Michael Greyeyes. I wasn't familiar with the younger actors, Misha Barton, Bug Hall, and Brad Renfro, but they do a great job in the film. Although some of the subject matter is a little uncomfortable, you laugh so much that it doesn't seem to matter. Basically what happens in this movie is that they address some serious life-changing subjects with a lot of humor in order to get their message (sex requires responsibility,etc.) across. At times, the kids seem more mature than the adults. Jennifer Jason Leigh is mind-boggling as the sexy, spoiled, southern single mom. Drew Barrymore's part is small, but she is memorable as a tantalizing temptress. Michael Greyeyes exudes strength and masculinity as a handsome Blackfoot rodeo cowboy. I would advise parents to watch the film before showing it to their kids. However, I also think it would be a good film to use in broaching the subject of sex and its consequences, etc. to family members entering puberty.

this is a quirky, entertaining flick. set against the backdrop of small town america 1963, it's a different 'coming of age' movie. goofy, drunken , obsessive adults and saner, wiser children attempt to sort through family roles and societal situations -- bigotry, sexual awakening, family structures, morality, abortion, gender roles --- this movie has got it all. it is, alternately, funny, sad, depressing & invigorating, but always entertaining. a great rent!

I thought the modern take on Romeo & Juliet in the Paul Sorvino/Lanie Kazan comedy 'Is Love All There Is' was the most ridiculous tale of young kids in love gone overboard that I had ever seen. That was, of course, until I watched Skipped Parts. Skipped Parts is the story of a 'bohemian' type of mother and son (at least by the rural Southwestern mid 60s standards) who basically turn their town's conventions upside down to a heavy degree. Lydia, a fantastic part played well by Jennifer Jason Leigh (it is a part reminiscent of her role as the punchy undercover journalist in 'The Hudsucker Proxy'), is kicked out of her North Carolina home where she lived with her overbearing, strict father in order to avoid embarrassment during his Senate campaign. Lydia is hanging by a thin string, already proved to be ill equipped to deal with responsibility. Thus, her teen son, is more of an equal, and an intelligent one to make up for the lack of parenting on Lydia's part. Together, they arrive in a small, 'proper' town in Wyoming, both hopelessly lost and terribly out of place, of course, given their nature. But this story and the two's effect on the town are more like an unfocused rebellion. That in the face of such staunch idiocy and conservatism by the town, Lydia and her son Sam (Bug Hall) are just going to to completely turn the town around, whether on purpose or by accident. With no direction, but just to rebel. The product is something even more out-of-wack than the small town was prior to their arrival, just in the opposite manner, so to speak. Sam befriends a pristine classmate, played by a very young Micha Barton. The two fourteen year olds develop more than just a 'show me yours and I'll show you mine' interest in sex. And with Lydia and her zany friend's encouragement, they do some experimenting. This is weird in the first place. Maybe not if we weren't such a sexual-conscious culture when it came to teenagers, but we are. Weird even for me. But, the two teenagers, who seem to like this experimentation, don't know when to give up, especially considering Lydia's warnings that once the girl gets her period, it's over. Well, I guess it's no surprise why this movie never hit mainstream release, or at least widespread mainstream release, considering the field day the religious right would have with this movie (and the book on which it's based?), with such young kids going for sex, and on top of everything else, a fourteen year old getting pregnant. And on top of that, keeping the baby. Meanwhile, we still see Sam as just a child. With his boyish fantasies about the movie star on screen and the like. How is it anyone thought they'd be capable of raising a child? How is it these kids thought so? The situation is taken way too lightly, and that's hard to get past. Other events in the town set off more chaos, possibly all started by the 'sex games' that Sam and his friend endure. But, that is more tolerable in mainstream American movies. The seemingly perfect wife having an affair and an abortion; the irresponsible mother being unable to commit and all of that. It's typical American fare, even in comedies. But somehow, I just can't get past how bizarre and how far things go between Sam and Maurey (Barton). It is an entirely strange, and more than not, an unbelievable situation. I think they went a little far with the intentions of showing how two 'liberated' people can have such a domino effect on such a tight-fisted town, for good or for worse.

I was watching this movie with my roommate on one of those i-have-nothing-better-to-do-evenings. I was really surprised to find out i actually liked this film. Other people have commented on this movie by saying it was to far fetched. But to be honest i don't get that. I know that this film is somewhat surreal, but reality isn't that far behind. I mean teen do get pregnant and when they lack good sex education (so to speak) they do experiment and pregnancy is the logical result. The film is sort of happy go lucky but it didn't bother me. I really liked the fact that it talked openly about pregnancy's among young people. I also thought it was rather sarcastic. Especially the last comment "welcome to the modern American family". I don't think that was serious but really sarcastic. I think it's save to say this movie was really cool. I recommend it to anyone who has an open view on such matters.