Twelve

Where to begin with the flaws of this film? To start with, the film relies on constant (and I mean REALLY constant) narration from a 3rd person perspective (Keifer Sutherland) because the script doesn't feel it is strong enough to convey the characters thoughts and feelings. As soon as the film starts we meet the main character known only as White Mike. White Mike's situation is described with very sketchy detail but we conclude that he works as a drug dealer for rich New York kids. However, White Mike isn't the only character, nor does he appear to be the focus. The film is riddled with pointless subplots such as Sara (one of the rich New York girls) manipulation of two men her own age. She never encounters White Mike. Another example of a pointless subplot was the arrest of White Mike's "best friend" (I use the term lightly because they are only in one or two scenes together) for the murder of White Mike's "close cousin" (again using the term lightly because this relationship is conveyed poorly). To top this, this subplot is never fully resolved. At the conclusion of the film it is clear to us that these subplots that seemed to weave circles around us had no point in terms of plot nor conveyed any moral standpoint from the creators. Instead, Kiefer Sutherland ends the film by dribbling on about some life and death bullshit that seems totally irrelevant to the majority of the subplots. My final criticism would have to be the title of the film. "Twelve" refers to a fictional drug taken by one of the movies characters, but it is rarely mentioned and seems to have no symbolic gesture to it. Maybe the novel focused more on this fictional drug. I have to praise the film for a few things. Firstly, two actors from my favorite show ever (The Wire) are in this film, even though they are brief cameos i still enjoyed them. Secondly the only actor who was unable to act was Maxx Bawer (who I don't seem to recognize from anywhere) the rest did a decent or above job. My favorite performance was from Curtis Jackson who played a cold drug dealer from Harlem. Maybe it's just because I am a sucker for these types of characters but I seemed to really enjoy 50 Cent's performance. If you are looking for a nitty and gritty crime drama, Twelve, although it may seem, is not what you are looking for. This film might be directed more at female viewers as a few of my friends compared this film to a long episode of Gossip Girl. The only other reason I could see to watch this film would be for what appears to be Curtis Jacksons first great appearance.

TWELVE is a film that is at first terrifying in its message about the irresponsible, uncontrollable drive for physical gratification among the wealthy youth of New York, and then a film that makes us profoundly sad that this is what we in our permissive, no established behavioral boundaries society have produced. Joel Schumacher knows his game and once again forces us to examine what we have produced in failing to give our younger generation the security for learning guidelines for social interaction. Jordan Melemed adapted Nick McDonell's novel for the screen and the flow of the story is in the form of offscreen narration by Kiefer Sutherland. 'Twelve' is the new play drug in the party circles of New York City and is supplied to the kids by Lionel (50 Cent), all other drugs being the purview of White Mike (Chace Crawford), a lad whose mother's death from cancer has left him aimless, electing to deal drugs rather than join his confreres in going to the 'proper colleges'. White Mike watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime. White Mike believes that his fellow youth don't need anything, they just want everything and the nexus of his philosophy is drugs. A grossly dysfunctional family of boys - Chris (Rory Culkin), Hunter (Phillip Ettinger) and Claude (Billy Magnussen) - have 'famous parties' in their parents' absence especially for the local bedbunny Sara (Esti Ginzburg). Another sad character is Jessica (Emily Meade) who takes 'Twelve' by mistake and then becomes addicted while her floozy mother (Ellen Barkin) and her supplier Lionel alter her life. The murder of White Mike's cousin and the subsequent effect it has on the rest of these young people leads to a disastrous conclusion. Their lives are as empty as their drug-addled brains. A story of decay and decadence and misplaced ideals, TWELVE is not pretty to watch, but the performances by some of these young actors make it memorable, forcing us to look at what we've done to our youth. Grady Harp