Review of Short Term 12 (2013) by V H — 20 Nov 2013

Grace and her boyfriend Mason work at a foster care facility for troubled teens. I don't know what their official job title is, but it seems closer to babysitter than it does to therapist. Their main function is to prevent kids from escaping or hurting themselves or each other, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds.

There's Sammy, an uncommunicative little redhead who plays with dolls and makes regular mad dashes across the lawn towards freedom. There's Marcus, an angry/sensitive black rapper who's about to get kicked out because he's turning 18. There's Luis, a Latino jock who likes to stir up trouble. And then there's the new girl - Jayden.

Jayden is a smartass artist cutter with a rich daddy and a troubled home life. Grace tries to befriend her and get her to spill her deep dark secrets because not long ago she too was a cutter with deep dark secrets. Actually, she kind of still is.

In the movie's main flaw, Grace suddenly finds herself facing a multitude of big personal issues all at once, and combined with the already tumultuous goings on back at the kids' home, it makes for just TOO...MUCH...DRAMA for a 96-minute film. The kid stuff alone is already pushing it a bit - each incident in and of itself seems realistic but is every single day really this action-packed? - but add to that Grace's abusive father getting out of jail, an unplanned pregnancy, getting fired from her job, and breaking up with her boyfriend and it starts to seem more like a blues song than a movie.

The kid stuff, though, is actually very good and almost documentary-like in its realism. Marcus and Jayden both have very moving scenes in which they express themselves through rap lyrics and a children's story respectively. Grace's big ball o' personal problems, as distracting as it is, isn't enough to undermine this otherwise excellent movie.