Short Term 12 **** (2013, Brie Larson, Frantz Turner, John Gallagher Jr, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever, Keith Stanfield, Melora Walters) – Movie Review

The 24-year-old Brie Larson stars as Grace, a 20-something supervising staff member of a foster care home, who has been abused herself. In writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton’s feature debut, Grace navigates the troubled waters of the care home and its teenage short-term residents, with the help of her sweet-natured co-worker and long-time boyfriend (John Gallagher Jr).

The performances are lovely, pulling you into Cretton’s quirky characters and serious-minded comedy drama. Kaitlyn Dever is outstanding as the especially troubled girl Jayden, who doesn’t seem to want anyone’s help and exorcises her demons by writing children’s stories. Keith Stanfield also shines as Marcus, who exorcises his demons by writing and chanting rap lyrics.

It’s not a great film, maybe, but it is a very good one. It’s a small, but perfectly formed American indie movie, charming, poignant, witty and wise. Cretton’s involving, big-hearted screenplay doesn’t put a foot wrong. It deals with the difficult topic of child abuse in a really sensible, straightforward way, and even offers positive solutions towards recovery.

There is no wallowing or desperate misery here, thank goodness. Like the heroine, this film is truly sensitive and comforting. It started out as an Academy Nicholl Fellowships winning script in 2010.

I liked Short Term 12 a lot, enough to see it twice, and I urge you to fall under its spell too.

Brie was acclaimed as Kate, Toni Collette’s sarcastic and rebellious daughter, in TV’s United States of Tara (2009-11), created by Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody and based on an original idea by Steven Spielberg.

© Derek Winnert 2013 derekwinnert.com