Little Boy Blue (1998)

Living in rural texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad: a compliant wife & a son who have an incestuous relationship at the insistence of the father. The dad harbors a secret & he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/06/2007 Starring: Ryan Phillipe John Savage Run time: 99 minutes Rating: R Product Description

Modern-day Southern Gothic

This is one of those Southern Gothic flicks involving family secrets in a small town with characters and events that make your skin crawl, yet you just can't stop watching. About halfway through you'll think you've got it all figured out but one or two of the revelations towards the end will probably take you by surprise.

Ryan Phillippe does an outstanding job, showing that even early in his career he was more than a pretty face, as does Nastassja Kinski, who I guess also shows she was more than a pretty face. (As for John Savage, he can probably phone in this kind of role by now.) One quirky aspect of the script is that various characters will be just about to learn something important when the scene will cut away .. leaving you, the viewer, in the dark. It comes dangerously close to being an annoyance, but the upside is that this allows the final act to spring its surprises all the more effectively.

I appreciated that the ending was more hopeful than I'd expected, partly because I thought I'd figured things out but was proven wrong. Had this been directed by someone like David Lynch it would probably have been a masterpiece. Nonetheless, even if it doesn't rise to that level it is certainly a film that holds your attention and keeps you wondering until the end. More than a "B movie" .. maybe a B+. September 24, 2006

Little Boy Blue

Great Movie from beginning to end.All the actors did a great job with an ending that will blow you away July 23, 2006

Compelling

This movie is one of my top 5 favorites. Although I tend to like the romantics, this movie is gripping and superbly acted by Ryan Philippe. It does contain stong violence and strong sexual materials. I wish it was available in a DVD version. January 6, 2005

All in the Family

This mildly engaging indie drama presents an intriguing mood and a couple of good performances, still as a whole it doesn`t work very well. Antonio Tibaldi directs this story about a dysfunctional family and its secrets, particularly Jimmy`s past, AKA "Little Boy Blue" (played by Ryan Phillippe). Despite the mysterious tone of the film, which offers some surprises along the way, this is an average effort overall, since the pacing is too slow at parts and the ending isn`t too satisfying. The acting is convincing, though (John Savage, Natassja Kinski), so this offbeat coming-of-age tale still deserves a watch.

Not bad but not good enough either. April 6, 2004

noooooo, my brothers are my sons damnit

shocking and powerful piece. Phillippe is the son of Nastassja Kinski and John Savage(who is Savage in this movie). Savage is Phillippes abusive father. starts good and ends with a bang, well two bangs. and one of the bangs shouldnt of been in there, where Kinski gets shot. the story goes that Savage stold Phillippe when he was a baby and killed his real father and raped his real mother, his real mother finds this out and comes for some, well, revenge. Phillippe also finds out that his brothers are his sons and his mother is the one who he had sex with, whoa!!!! and then Phillippe suddenly vanishes. his real mom comes and kills Savage and then Kinski(whyyy!!!) and then shes shot down by Phillippes buddy cop. they find Phillippe under ground tied up from his fake father. Phillippe delivers one of his best. October 16, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...