Rafe is a new student at Hills Village Middle School. He starts off on the wrong foot with his principal after he's caught disrupting a school assembly with his cartoon drawing of the principal. The principal destroyed his notebook filled with all his drawings which meant everything to Rafe. He used his creative talents as an escape from depression. Rafe is undergoing many troubles in all areas of his life. He can't get away from trouble at school because his middle school principal drains the creativity from the students. When he returns home, things are equally horrible for him with his mother's ignorant boyfriend. afe is dealing with severe grief over his younger brother, Leo's death. When he gets lonely, he pretends Leo is still with him. It helps him get through the loss and lonliness without him. Rafe is finally able to reach an acceptance point with Leo's passing and allows himself to let go and move forward in his life.

This is an incredible movie for parents to watch with their children. It will open communication with your children about their concerns with rules and staff at their school. There are realistic family dynamics within the movie which can start communcation with your kids in a way they're comfortable to speak about.

I loved their pranks to the principal and school all together. It was fun and creative but most of all they were showing that rules are masking their creativity. Standardized testing doesn't reflect on who a child is. When that's all a school is focused on, they're taking away from methods of learning that will help many. Children learn differently. Some are visual learners, some learn from listening and cannot write and still concentrate- everyone is different. If you shove all children into a box as one, you are destroying their abilities and talents. This movie demonstrates this so well. It shows it in a way that children will understand this concept and be able to speak on it.
I loved their middle school teacher because he taught lessons in a creative, original manner. He brought teaching to a whole new level by incorporating the interests of the students and organizing lessons from them. He was teaching educational classes using the students favorite music artists as examples. When doing this, you gain respect from the children and most of all, you gain their attention. Not everyone can force themselves to pay attention and grasp concepts that they genuinely have zero interest in. At best, you'll grasp half of the information given. When the teacher makes the effort to make the information interesting, you will obtain more of the knowledge and understanding.

I like how Rafe's drawings came to life in the movie. It was a fun addition to the movie but also, it was what brought him peace and happiness. His drawings were his escape from his problems. His imagination and his imaginary cartoon characters and brother, were ways for him to have a friendship and someone to relate to. They were keeping him above water for a long time.

I didn't like Rafe's principal and how he tried to erase creativity within the school atmosphere. He only cared about childrens test scores and not about their true learning abilities. He was so focused on rules and regulations that he didn't ever spend a second to actually get to know his students and who they are. This was an excellent learning experience within the movie though and shows what many schools are lacking.

The second horrible character within the movie was Rafe's mother's boyfriend. He hates Rafe and his sister, Georgia, and it seems as though he' proposed to their mother almost out of spite.

When I finished this movie, it sparked my creativity and made me want to break out my "How to Draw Cool Stuff" book by Catherine V. Holmes. I'm not much of an artist but I purchased the book a few months ago and have been wanting to give it a shot. If I could get good at drawing or even painting, then if I ever write a book, I could safe a ton of money by using my own illistrations. That was my goal. If I were to get good at drawing, I would start working towards making children's books. This movie sparked that creativity and motivation within myself.

The movie brought me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I was sad and empathetic for Rafe. He was dealing with the grief process of his younger brother, Leo. It definitely pulled at my heart strings while reminding me of my own life loss's. At the ending of the movie, you learn that Rafe's brother Leo wasn't truly there throughout the entire movie. He was imagining him to help him deal with his loss. This discovery brought me close to tears. I was also close to tears at the very ending when Leo said his goodbye's to him, symbolizing the acceptance stage in Rafe's grieving process. As much as it made me almost cry, it was a happy cry that time. I was proud and happy for Rafe that he was finally able to let go and live his life without his imaginary brother. That was a huge step for him and the beginning of a peaceful life for him.

The other emotions I felt throughout this movie was anger towards the mother's boyfriend. He was such a bully to Rafe and Georgia. He was self centered and egotistical. At the end of the movie, their mother was finally able to see him for who he really was when they faced a crisis. He only cared about his car being missing and later destroyed and didn't blink an eye about the safety or wellbeing of the children. When their mother left her boyfriend, it was a happy moment. It was finally a chance for the family to move forward and be happy together without the black cloud that was lingering in their lives.

Cast: Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle
Directior: Steve Carr

This movie is the perfect movie to strike meaningful conversation with your children. Discussions will flow easily such as grief and loss, broken families, step-parents, unfair rules, school dynamics, abusive or rude school staff, exploring your creativity and talents, schools that destroy creativity, and more. All these topics are touched on in this movie but in a fun, entertaining way. Don't get me wrong, it will pull at your heart strings! I loved this and think it is the perfect movie to teach your children a valuable lesson and hear their concerns with life and education.

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Created Mar 18, 2019 at 3:04pm • Submit your own review...