ALL I WANT

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, foul language

Rated:

After both the success of The Lord of the Rings and A Walk to Remember, it was smart on the part of the studio to cast Elijah Wood and Mandy Moore opposite one another. I only wish the film was a little more worthy of them both. Jones (Woods) is seventeen and eager to make his way in the world. Having grown up in boarding schools and summer camps in order to avoid being around his mother Blanche (Elizabeth Perkins), one day he comes into town dragging a trunk behind him. His grandfather has died and left him a fortune. Deciding to give college a try, he discovers his roommate is a punk who "requires" the bottom bunk and won't listen to anything but a certain band. No rock, no hip hop, no pop, no rap, and definitely no country! This is not going to work.

Jones drags his trunk across town and parks it permanently in his very own apartment, rent paid a year in advance. He has no furniture, no glasses, no radio, nothing but the clothes on his back and his trunk... stuffed with letters to the father he never knew. In them Jones invents wonderful happenings for his life. In random phone calls to his mom, he reassures her that life is good. The bagel shop down the street also sends around belly dancers. The girls just love him. He has a private massage therapist. The reality is, his first day home, lugging a twelve pack of beer (bought illegally by giving the guy at the counter a sob story), he's sprayed in the face with Mace by the upstairs tenant, one of the two girls in the apartment. Jane (Franka Potente) is a photographer, a loner, and completely mysterious. She doesn't hang out and rarely talks. The other female occupant is Lisa (Moore), a perky blonde would-be actress who can only get a "two-room apartment and a corny role in a period play."

While furnishing his apartment, continuing to write letters, and pestering his mother for information about his dad, Jones will experience true love, heartache, disappointment, and triumph... with a whole lot of make-believe in the meantime. This film manages to be funny and yet serious. It's sad but also meaningful. The glue that holds it together are the interesting characters. We've all been through -- or will be going through -- the age when you're no longer a kid, but not yet an adult. When people fail to take you seriously and ask to see your driver's license. It's the time of your life when you've struck out on your own and have figured out you can make it, but not without some sweat, tears, and trials. The script is pretty cute but fairly predictable, and the "teens" turn in some good performances. But a couple of things wear this film down. The first is Wood. He's a good actor, but takes some getting used to after Middle-earth. He still has that "Frodo look" in his eyes at times.

The second is the amount of content packed into the movie. I almost didn't watch it just based on the previews. They were so smut-packed you could tell their primary lure was desensitized teens. The actual film isn't as bad as the trailers imply but still has unsavory moments, ideals, and philosophies. One of Jones' mild obsessions is to get rid of his virginity. He almost goes all the way with Lisa, but when she finds out it's his first time she refuses. She says it should be with someone you really love, not just a matter of convenience. I agree with her, but she left out one very important factor: it should be with the person you're married to, not just "in love with." Later of course he gets the girl while on a driving trip. She slips out of her hotel bed into his, they kiss and fool around a bit, then kiss some more with their shirts off (no obvious nudity, but it's implied). The nice guy downstairs is gay (that was an unforeseen twist; he's protective of the girls, manly, and never makes any passes at Jones). He makes a few sexual remarks. The woman at the furniture store flirts with Jones when he buys a bed. He later has a nightmare about her coming to help him "break it in" (they kiss passionately and bounce around on the bed before her sons come in). He also fantasizes about an artist's model (her bare back is seen several times) and a belly dancer. He stuffs toilet paper down the front of his pants.

Language is also an issue with three abuses of Christ's name, one abuse of Jesus' name, seven f-words and too many uses of a-- and s**t to count. There's also a large amount of teen underage drinking and smoking. Some of his dreams are funny. Others are just plain stupid. Yet somehow we like him despite his lunacy. When he finds out the truth about his dad, we feel sorry for him. Along the way he comes to realize that his mom isn't the woman he thought she was. There's a touching implication of reunion toward the end that warms the heart. But the issues it raises, the film's cavalier attitude about losing one's virginity, and the foul language puts a hold on a movie that could have been cute, innocent, and popular. I hope this is just a misstep for the actors, and not a sign of things to come.

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