Review of Unstrung Heroes (1995) by Scott R — 15 Apr 2012

I didn't like this movie at first. It made me uncomfortable, in part because I expected something more along the lines of two of my favorite nineties films, "Wide Awake" and "Little Man Tate.

" Steven/Franz's father was a total jerk, to me, and the mental illness of the uncles didn't seem like it was actually going to be TREATED like illness. I felt very uncomfortable for Franz Lidz, feeling sorry that he had grown up in such an environment.

The first half of this movie fooled me, however. Not everything in it was what it seemed. As it got closer and closer to the end, a rich mix of emotion bubbled up through the surface without becoming sticky, sickly, or melodramatic, and the conclusion made me tear up.

I began to care about these characters like they were a quirky extension of my own family. The main idea I took from the whole thing is that Franz was a smart kid who could handle the less-than-pleasant side of the world, and seeing as how he wrote the memoir that inspired this nice little movie, it sure seems like he did.

It's a shame that this movie is doomed to relative obscurity. It's definitely the kind of quirky-yet-grounded movie that doesn't get made anymore... at least, not this way.