Twelve and Holding

You know how much I like to throw a little curve ball at all you readers (all 6 of you). I have been watching some independent films and I have one that you must check out. The film is called Twelve and Holding and it came out in 2005. The story starts with these twin brothers, Jacob and Rudy, getting chased around by the town bullies. They meet up with their two friends an over weight boy named Leonard and a little girl named Malee. The little group hears that the bullies are going to try to tear down their tree house so Rudy decides to meet Leonard there to stop them. The bullies throw a bottle with a burning towel at the tree house. Leonard escapes after he falls on his head and poor Rudy is buried alive. This is a really hard scene to watch but very good. Don't worry I'm not giving anything away because this happens in the first 5 minutes.

After Rudy's death Jacob tries to live his life. Jacob is different from Ruby because he has a big birthmark on the side of his face. Leonard finds out that he lost his sense of smell and because of that he can no longer taste food. Malee meets a man in her mother's therapy office named Gus (played by Jeremy Renner).

The movie divides into 3 small stories about the year after Rudy's death. Jacob becomes close with the boy who accidentally killed Rudy. He continues to go visit him and tell him about the outside world.

Leonard decides to get in shape and save his own life. He starts working out and eating right. This throws off Leonards whole family because they are big people and eat terrible foods. Leonard see this as his second chance for a better life. I wont mess up the ending but let's just say that he takes the diet to the extremes with his family.

Malee was by far my favorite character. She is this little 12 year old girl that gets her first crush on Gus. To be totally honest what girl wouldn't have a crush on Jeremy Renner if he was sweet to you. Malee starts to sneak around to find information about Gus. She even sneaks into her mother's office to hear his therapy session. Gus used to be a fire fighter and has serious post-traumatic stress. Now Gus is doing construction on the land where Rudy was killed.

I may give you a bit of a spoiler here but I have to talk about this scene, it is so powerful. Malee finds a key to Gus's apartment and shows up there. She goes through his things and finds a gun in his drawer. Just as she grabs it Gus comes home. Malee hides under the bed and watches as Gus gets into the shower. Gus starts to have an emotional break down in the shower. His back is to the door and his head in the corner of the shower. This is some of the best acting I have ever seen with Renner. As he is having this emotional break down, Malee walks into the bathroom and tries to put her hand on his back. She stops and walks out without him ever knowing she was there.

The rest of the movie Malee starts to see Gus more and more. She talks to him about falling in love and not liking the boys her age. As she sees him more and more she starts to dress more like a little woman and not a little girl.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!

One night Malee shows up to Gus' and cleans the house, makes the bed, and cooks dinner. When he walks in he looks confused as she is sitting there. He has a moment of realization that she has been in here before and took his gun. She walks up to him and takes off her robe. He looks away and tells her to stop this craziness and get dressed. She is begging him to hold her and says they are soul mates. He covers her up with his jacket and calls her mother.

Later Gus talks to Malee's mother about how he felt terrible because he knew she had a crush on him and didn't discourage it. But then he tells a story about a fire where he killed another little girl. He said that Malee looked at him the same way. She just wanted him to take her pain away. He was Malee's escape from everything that happened.

There is alot more that happen but I want you to WATCH the movie!

The acting by the 3 little actors is stunning. They have the emotional range that gets at your heart. You forget that these are just young kids and believe these wise souls. Jeremy Renner is fantastic and completely tragic in this film. You just want to reach out and help him and the kids with all the pain they are dealing with.

Over all A!