Welcome to “Another Movie Guy?”! I review recent new releases, and then mention similar movies worth checking out. If all goes according to plan, you’ll have some new additions to your Netflix queue. Or someone with whom you can angrily disagree.

Put simply, director Luke Eberl’s Choose Connor needs to grow a pair. He takes two time-honored genres, the political thriller and the coming-of-age tale, and combines them into something banal. Clearly Eberl wants to tell a story about integrity and the duplicitous nature of politicians, and understands that it has been told many times before. He tries to add freshness by telling the story from an adolescent’s perspective. His approach does not work -  the movie’s insights are just as worldly as one would expect from a teenager.

Owen Norris (Alex Linz) is a dorky kid without any friends. He’s a good student, and wins an academic prize from school. He’s given the award by Lawrence Connor (Steven Weber), the local Congressman who is running for an open Senate seat. Soon enough Owen impresses the Congressman with his political acumen. Opportunities open up - Congressman Connor asks Owen to be his “youth spokesperson.” Now Owen is doing ads and interviews in which he fights for the rights of children. On the social front, Owen befriends Caleb (Escher Holloway), Connor’s nephew. The excitement of Owen’s burgeoning political career quickly fades - he discovers that Connor hides dark secrets, and that they somehow involve Caleb.

The movie’s biggest weakness is its utter lack of political sophistication. For one thing, Congressman Connor speaks in platitudes that a precocious tween could see through. Phrases like “Children are our future” and “I care about the environment” are in no way inspirational, yet Connor uses them constantly. In order for a movie like this to work, the audience (and its protagonist) must be sufficiently awed by the politician; that way, when naivete gives way to cynicism, it’s all the more devastating. Primary Colors is an excellent example of such a character arc. The movie’s other weakness is how Eberl handles Owen’s exposure to corruption. Owen receives an ominous video cassette, and we never discover its source. When Owen finally learns about Connor’s nefarious activities, they are unsurprising and actually kind of tame. After all, Connor appears to be single, and prefers the company of teenage boys. When the big reveal comes, who isn’t expecting it?

The movie’s other elements are perfectly adequate. Weber exudes sleaze, Linz exudes innocence, and Holloway exudes melancholy. Shot on digital video, the direction is competent. Ultimately, the script is the movie’s biggest weakness. Such a story needs teeth - without a proper punch, Choose Connor feels like an after-school special. Eberl was 21 when he wrote and directed the movie. Taking age into account, there is potential for the him to become a gifted filmmaker. Still, he should gone out and experienced more before he attempted to criticize our corrupt political system.

Here are other, better movies about teenagers who are disenchanted with the adult world:

Igby Goes Down. Kieran Culkin stars as Igby, a sarcastic teenager who resents the hypocrisy of the adults who surround him. His mom (Susan Sarandon) is an ice queen who remarried a greedy businessman (Jeff Goldblum). Everyone seems to prefer the company of Igby’s older brother Oliver (Ryan Phillippe). Rather than enroll in military school, Igby runs away to New York City and squats in the home of his step-father’s mistress. Before his plan falls to pieces, Igby takes a lot of drugs and sleeps with beautiful women. By the end, Igby grows up a little, and learns that his life isn’t as awful as he previously thought. Of course, the story bears a strong similarity to ubiquitous required reading, but the clever dialog prevents everything from becoming a cliche. Igby is unreasonably smart for a kid his age (what 16 year old references Medea?), yet Culkin makes the character believable. With Igby Gos Down, writer/director Burr Steers achieves something tricky -  a movie that feels familiar and fresh at the same time.

The Opposite of Sex. Christina Ricci stars as Dede, a sarcastic teenager who resents the hypocrisy of the adults who surround her. She discovers that she’s  pregnant, and seeks refuge in the home of her gay half-brother Bill (Martin Donovan). Dede quickly makes herself the center of attention. She smokes constantly, and eventually seduces Matt, who is Bill’s lover. Matt becomes convinced that the baby is his, so the unlikely duo run off to California to raise the baby. This all sounds like fare for a Jerry Springer episode, but the director adds a nice touch: Dede narrates the entire movie, and her cynicism undercuts the dramatic tension of each predictable scene. The technique does not distract, and helps demonstraye how similar movies play it safe. Given Dede’s reckless behavior, we need her commentary so she can have a rapport with the audience. Ricci excels at roles like this one. The Opposite of Sex’s biggest surprise comes from Lisa Kudrow, who plays Bill’s friend. Here she plays a tight-ass, conservative woman - someone quite different from her character on Friends.

Freeway. Reese Witherspoon plays Vanessa in this modern interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood. Vanessa is far from an wide-eyed innocent - writer/director Matthew Bright makes her a white-trash sweetheart with unexpected resources. Her foil is not a literal wolf, but a psychologist named Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). It goes without saying that Bob is also a sexual predator - Vanessa initially trusts the man, but disfigures him once he reveals his true nature.  The movie works because of the director’s audacity. He takes the premise to its logical conclusion, and skewers our nation’s obsession with unsavory scandal. For a character with such violent tendencies, Witherspoon does an excellent job of making Vanessa sympathetic. Sutherland is great at portraying villains, and here his confiding voice serves him well. In a way, the movie’s final scene inevitable. Those who are at least somewhat familiar with Little Red Riding Hood will see what’s coming. The important thing to remember is that the director knows you know the story, and plays the scene for pathos as well as laughs. There’s simply no way Jack Bauer could make a convincing grandmother.

That’s it for this weeks “Another Movie Guy?”! Tune in next week when I make my life into a play.

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