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Eban and Charley
by Picture This
| List Price: |
$24.95 |
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$22.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$2.46 (9%) |
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DVD
BOLTON,JAMES
Publisher: Picture This
Judy Irola
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Actors: Brent Fellows, Gio Black Peter, Ellie Nicholson, Drew Zeller, Pam Munter
After his parents get divorced, and he loses his beloved mother to a drunk driver, 15-year-old Charley goes to live in a lonely seaside town with his overly strict, military-man father. During one grim Christmas break, he finds comfort in the companionship of 29-year-old Eban, a schoolteacher home visiting his folks. When Eban and Charley s friendship deepens into intimacy, both of their families condemn it and threaten to call the police. With tensions high, and the stakes even higher, Eban and Charley face the most dangerous decision of all.
This earnest drama depicts not so much a May/December relationship as a February/June affair between a 15-year-old and a 29-year-old. Eban (Brent Fellows) has come back to his former hometown of Seaside, Oregon, after being driven from Seattle by a controversy at the school where he taught. Soon he meets Charley (Giovanni Adrade), a teenager whose mother has died and whose father is a jerk, and before long they fall in love. Eban and Charley depicts a fantasy for those who like their lovers young; Eban acts with complete reserve and restraint, while Charley makes the first move and proclaims that age shouldn't matter if they love each other. The actors give extremely naturalistic performances that some viewers will find painfully tedious and others may find refreshing. The movie also features a soundtrack by Stephin Merritt of indie-pop band Magnetic Fields. --Bret Fetzer
| Customer Reviews: |
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| It does happen |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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As a parent and grandparent I have issues with this film. However, as a person who had lived on the streets of New York City and have traveled the world, things like this do happen! I neither condemn nor condone; however, it's obvius Charlie is a neglected teen-age boy who's hungry for love. And like he says in the movie, "if you love someone, age shouldn't matter.
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| I am not sure |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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This is a movie with a controversial subject, a relationship between an adult and a minor.
Ths story is about Eban and Charley. Eban is a 29 teacher who got expelled from a Seattle school for having an affair with a student. Eban returns home to his parent's house in Seaside.
Charley is a 15 years old kid who lives in the same town. For not so obvious reasons, he be-friends Eban (which you understand why later). They both develop a relationship which becomes romantic. Charley lives with his father after his mother gets run over by a drunk driver. She was deaf and explains why he sign language (which Eban does too). Charley has a deaf straight friend who has girlfriend (they both runaway at the end of the movie). Charley and Eban also play the guitar.
As the relationship further develops by Eban and Charley, they get caught, and both sets of parents learned of the situation. After some hesitation by Eban they both runaway together at the end.
I reviewed another movie "Return to Innocence" which deals basically with the same subject, pedophiles. Return to Innocence was a more technical movie dealing with professionals in the field of psychiatry. In this movie we have a teacher falling for younger kids, a topic that is now seen more, and more.
I believe that true love has no barriers. That is what I would accept. Unfortunately in this story, the older man has done this before, and I am not sure whether the love is genuine. If he has fallen with another boy, what is not to say, that the next cute boy attractive to him, he would dump Charley. This is Charley first love, his heart is very vulnerable, but he comes out as the more matured person at the end. Eban vacillation between his true feelings and fear caused him not to pursue the first relationship. He is going to be true to this next boy?
I am willing to accept things in the name of love. As a late romantic, I feel that we all have that soul mate out there. However, you have to be aware of the law, and that this sort behavior is not tolerated in most societies. And I do not think that it makes a difference whether you are heterosexual or homosexual (unlike what another reviewer says). Humans go through many stages of development, and having someone that young, they may not understand the ramifications of a relationship. Are you willing to destroy someone's heart, or cause any more damage?
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| When Heaven Left God |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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This film (Eban and Charley) is one of the most un-nerving films I have ever seen and it is disturbing to the core to view. Admittedly it's my own fault, since college when I studied Eros and the ceaseless affects of sadness that it has on its victims, if you can call them victims, and I have been obsessed with the subject ever since. Basically the film tells the story of a seduction between a slightly older guy over a teenager. You see the older guy, Eban, following the boy around in the first few minutes of the film and I felt unsettled by him because it looked as though he were stalking the boy.
The boy, Charley, has recently witnessed the death of his mother by a freak car accident. Eban uses this incident as a means of seduction over the boy, essentially he communicates with the boy through music and their shared interest in speaking with sign language.
When later it is revealed that the older guy Eban is a pedophile and a former teacher it is creepy how the boy attaches so quickly to him and never lets him go.
My fascination with Eros (see Anne Carson's book of the subject) lies within the psychology field of behavioral sciences and this film is fascinating only in that you see behavior that is so unlike what society expects from its citizens.
What bothered me more about the film is that it is shot in home-video style and obviously the filmmaker was shooting for realism. However I personally have never felt this style of filmmaking to be realistic. Realism (and I wish filmmakers could learn this) comes from depth of understanding and compassion for their subject (see Brokeback Mountain).
The film, even though it ended well, left this feeling of abandonment on me. Society does not understand that either relationships need to be this way or otherwise soltitude drives you mad.
As a child I knew what abandonment was and as an adult it is this that I understand about those who grow up different.
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| Nothing conventional here |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This was a pretty good movie. The plot was excellent. And it's nice to see something that doesn't fit into any existing mold. The part of the 15 year old was perfectly casted & acted. The 29 year old was not well casted nor acted- thus the 4 stars. He was unattractive, soft-spoken and weird. If you are looking for nudity skip this one, there's not much. Worth watching overall.
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| I almost bought it...almost |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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I almost bought the plot, but I couldn't help noticing how ugly Eban was. He screams creepy with his trashy unshaven face and tingle in his voice. Charley was certainly cute, but he was also 15. This is a very hard movie to produce in America with all the laws and stuff, and really just needs a better Eban. Not really worth it.
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