Coconut Hero
Coconut Hero
| 13 August 2015 (USA)
Coconut Hero Trailers

It's not easy being a teenager and Mike, a sixteen-year-old, has it espcially hard. He lives in the sticks with his mother, a non-stop nagger, in Faintville, a Canadian timber industry town. He has no father, no friends, not even a favorite meal. Basically, his sole wish is simply to vanish from the face of the earth. One day, Mike writes his own obituary and shoots himself. To his great disappointment he wakes up the in the local hospital. During a routine examination, the doctors discover a plum-sized tumor in his brain. Mike can scarcely believe his luck and keeps the illness to himself to avoid undergoing surgery that would save him. Staring death directly in the eyes, however, changes Mike's point of view and he re-evaluates his opinion of both enchanting and crazy Miranda. Somebody seems to understand him after all.

Reviews
Steinesongo

Too many fans seem to be blown away

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Cleveronix

A different way of telling a story

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Senteur

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

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Humbersi

The first must-see film of the year.

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kosmasp

Difficult subject matter, and nice/decent effort to make it feel light and refreshing somehow. There are quite a few quirky/strange things that are happening here, that are weird to the point they can be taken as light entertainment. Which is never easy when it comes to the subject matter of suicide.The main actor said he didn't try to concentrate on the fact that his character was suicidal nor did he think that that was the case. How else could you find humor in something like this? And while this walks the thin line nicely, there have been better movies on the subject matter. Still a nice try with some more than decent acting and a nice story overall.

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WonWaiWai

I'm not good at writing reviews, but seeing as how this movie does not have many reviews so far, I thought I'd contribute one.The lead, and the sole person this movie was mostly about, Mike Tyson comes off as an interesting character, sometimes in an endearing sort of way. The movie shares with us his quirky persona, and by the end shows what may be a little, but particularly important growth in Mike as a person. The interactions between Mike and his mother, as well as other minor characters were fun enough to watch.While some people might be turned off by this movie seeing as there's not much going on, and that the plot was not heavy, I thought it is enjoyable enough as far as coming-of-age movies go. Even the ending was OK with me, because it was sort of a happy ending, but not over the top/cliché.

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zif ofoz

How can a most entertaining story become a hackneyed mess at the end?In "Coconut Hero" Mike is a bit different than the other teens his age. He's a critical thinker, a realist, and having this type of insight into life at his age can be, and is, a confusing state of mind. He's the only one in his school that has not been absorbed into the group thinking that is so part of being accepted by others. And being accepted by others is most important in teen years. So Mike decides to end his life although he does not appear to be depressed. His attempt fails. But the aftermath of this attempt at suicide brings the feeling of liberation to him.Director: Florian Cossen and Writer: Elena von Saucken portray Mike as a comical innocent, he is an only child of a hair dresser divorced mother with a brash no-nonsense personality, and the school counselor and therapist seem at at loss in how to deal with him because he is so non-threatening and reserved. Then the dance instructor Miranda enters Mike's life. Along the way Mike's father shows up! Mike absorbs sound bites from a minister and a funeral director. All these bits and parts don't quite fit together for him.Here's where the story starts to fall apart. Mike leaves home, striking out alone, destination - whatever. By chance Miranda just happens to be in need along a deserted road and Mike comes to her aide. Here the story becomes a cliché and the viewer can certainly figure out what's about to happen. Mike gets his wish but with an unexpected twist. All ends happily - for the most part!! You just spent an hour and twenty minutes watching this story, you will like and care about Mike, Miranda is a plus for all involved and then the writer takes a 'soap opera' turn in the story and for the next fifteen minutes you must suffer a confusing montage of Mikes life! The end.I do not want to give away the details in this movie because I really liked it! But the ending was such a letdown! It's a wonderful story but golly why that ending?

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JeromeArlettaz

Young people's most common drama is also the less talked about. This movie talks about a teenagers who "wants to leave" with a sensitive and dark sense of humour (As the movie does not say the word, I won't say it either). It talks about different aspects of death without falling into the maudlin and compassionate trap. I guess there's no other way to do it. The common Hollywood way would have insisted on an initial trauma and there would have been a lot of tears. It would have found a justification for the "departure". And it is well known that a fiction representing a tearful and motivated "departure" can cause epidemic "departures". In this movie, things are as they are with no motive, as it frequently is in real life. In contrast with the sensitive and slightly distant beginning, the movie shows an accident in a very harsh way.I like the important rhythm breaks emphasizing the slow contemplative scenes, as well as dynamic ones. The filming is very clean, sometimes uncommon and in good coherence with the narrative and sound track. The young actor has a promising carrier. I was afraid he might be stuck in the same attitude for the whole movie, but at the end, he shows a wide palette of reactions. If you're concerned about showing this movie to teenager, I would probably let him watch it if he's not too stupid and accompanied. I'm not the type of guys prohibiting movies to kids, but in this case, you want to avoid misinterpretations and a trivialization of death.

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