The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

But definitely worth it. Watched it for Emma Roberts, wished she'd played a bigger role, and Silverman, same wish. But stayed for an interesting story, albeit as implausible as it gets. It ended up just being...sweet. Mickey Rourke, who will never be considered an acting titan, can do regret...like in the Wrestler. I feel he draws from a deeply personal place for that regret, and it translates well on screen. Just my two cents.

It's a wonderful cast and not a bad production either, so I enjoyed the watch, but did not like the film much. The reason is I had seen a few similar flicks which are much better than this in every way. A school kid and his single parents' struggling relationship and their strange neighbour, so it is the concept I'm familiar with, but the story was a bit different. There are a few good scenes in it, but the most of the parts were dominated by the only the nice events like happily ever after kind of stuffs right from the beginning.The title role was played by Mickey Rourke, but it was Nat Wolff's film. The narration should have been much better, I mean it should have had more complicated segments. I even don't know how it got the R rating. The writing and the direction, both should have been a bit bolder. There are some people who liked it a lot and defending it, but I'm neutral. To me it was 50-50, I neither liked nor disliked. But all I wanted was a bit better than this, so I can't judge it for other. I hope you make a right decision on this if you plan to watch it.5/10

I thought I was in the presence of another well-written, cute, heartfelt, deep indie with great music and performances when two minutes into the film, an awesome teacher releases the line: "Don't add homophobe to idiot, Valchek. People already don't like you."Sadly, I was wrong.What I was hoping for was another Little Miss Sunshine, The Way, Way Back or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. What I got was a writer/director who probably saw those, maybe more of the like and thought he could recreate their magic. He did not. Hell, even that teacher I loved upfront bailed on him early on with no resolve or more depth.Okay, backing up. It's not a bad film. It has another great Mickey Rourke performance, a wonderful secondary star with Emma Roberts and the film is well shot and professionally done. It does, in fact, have a good (not great) soundtrack and is successful at mimicking the aforementioned films.But, the most problems arise with the lead: Nat Wolff as Ed. Ed's supposed to be this brilliant up and coming 17-year-old High School student who opposes his own generation and yearns for deeper and smarter people. He does not accomplish this. He is almost an exact replica of those he looks down upon. Additionally, as smart (mouthed) as he is, he's fairly dumb at times. Maybe he's supposed to be like today's generation of the kids that I rarely make contact with, but what I was given in the opening third or so, he was meant to be thoughtful and three steps ahead of everyone else. This did not turn out like that. He simply became a caricature of himself. Not to mention really annoying at times.Further, the film was wildly predictable and the many subplots were opened and never resolved. Forgotten, perhaps. The mother's was left hanging. The jocks and scholarships vanish like the disappearing Daddy. And the awesome teacher I mentioned…maybe the actor's salary was too high and they could only afford to shoot him in one day. Sure, there was a kind of a direct line in the story for the neighbor, a grumpy old man who is dying, has a past and given a short future. And there's our "hero," Ed, who kinda wants to succeed, but also join the football team just to prove something. I am still trying to find out what that is. The heart's in the right place, but it needed a couple more rewrites to nail it. More needed to be fleshed out and some toned back or even cut. I would recommend it, as it's harmless, but I absolutely recommend the similar films listed above first.***Final thoughts: Sure I spoiled a bunch above – I did warn yah! – but one thing I couldn't get past: the boy, or Ed, was an accomplice…to be as broad as I can be. Of course, he didn't start off as one and maybe the government would want to silence him for knowing too much, but he's still doing the wrong thing and is unredeemable in the end. That, my friend, is our "hero" here. We're supposed to back him. I did not.

We were able to watch this at home on DVD from our public library. It is funny and quirky with some serious subjects.Set in Virginia, Nat Wolff is new transfer student Ed Wallis, a senior coming from Oregon. Ed is very smart and has intentions of being a star wide receiver on his high school football team but isn't sure he wants to confront the mean coaches and potential teammates.Ed's new next door neighbor is Mickey Rourke, in fine form, as Ashby Holt. They meet right after Ashby has a minor incident behind the wheel of his car, he is diagnosed with a debilitating condition and told he has 3 months to live. No longer allowed to drive he has Ed take him places. When Ed asks what Ashby does for a living he tells him he was a napkin salesman. In fact he has been a professional assassin.The story here is two-fold and each as important as the other. Ed is coming of age, he needs encouragement to confront his fears both on the football field, and with the pretty new friend at school, Emma Roberts as Eloise. And Ashby needs to confront his life of killing, he has a strong faith and doesn't want to die and be sent to Hell.Also good are Sarah Silverman as June Wallis, Ed's needy single mom, and Zachary Knighton as Father Ted, the priest that Ashby confessed to near the end of his life.Interesting movie, we were entertained.