Twelve On DVD - A Review

Twelve, directed by Joel Schumacher is based on a novel by Nick McDonell is about  teens from the Upper East Side in Manhattan. These aren't just your average teens. They have too much money and spend it on drugs.

Summary

The film opens during Spring Break on the Upper East Side. White Mike (Chace Crawford), once a wealthy, carefree teenager, now struggles to scrape out a living as a pot dealer, dealing to his former classmates. His mother passed away from cancer a year prior to the events of the film, her treatment having completely consumed his family's wealth, and left a deep emotional trauma on Mike. Mike's good friend, Molly Norton (Emma Roberts), a sweet girl from the poorer side of town, doesn't know he is a drug dealer. Mike's supplier, Lionel (Curtis Jackson), also deals the addictive cocktail "Twelve" to Mike's cousin, Charlie (Jeremy Allen White). Charlie attempts to mug Lionel one night, as he is unable to pay for the drug. Lionel turns the gun on Charlie, shooting him in the head, before shooting Nana (Jermaine Crawford), an innocent observer, returning home after a basketball game at the Harlem Recreation Center. Mike and Charlie's good friend, Hunter (Phillip Ettinger) (another resident of the wealthy Upper East Side, set on attending Harvard), who had played basketball with - and got in a fight with - Nana earlier that evening, is taken into custody for the murders. He visits Harlem regularly because he detests the high society of his classmates.

What I Can Tell You: 

I am not a big fan of movies that glamorize addiction, violence and sex with teens. These power hungry teens are despicable and annoying.  However, I like the narration over most of the movie. It was kind of like A Christmas Story. The narrator gives us the thoughts behind the motives and the background story to the scene. If not for the narration, handsome Chace Crawford and youthful, Emma Roberts I would have hated this movie. There are a lot of layers and a ton of characters.  If I were a teen watching this movie, I would have been sick to my stomach.

I was disturbed on so many levels. From the rich, virginal rich girl who gets quickly hooked on the drug twelve sold by 50 Cents and has ridiculous wasted conversations with her too many stuffed animals before offering sex for a fix. To poor White Mike who lost his mother to Cancer and can't stop thinking about her. Too much sex, too many drugs, too much wealth. This is what is wrong with American teens. They have too much!

The acting is good. The narration, done by Keifer Sutherland makes it bearable but the moral of this story is twisted.