Very Cool!!!

Load of rubbish!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good start, but then it gets ruined

An excellent "little" movie. The story of a friendship between a new mother and a young neighbor in a wheelchair. The trailer gives a much brighter image than it actually is. And it's better than the trailer. It gives a bittersweet atmosphere all along that takes guts. A film that speaks to young parents, first love, the passing of time, the mourning to do. Simple and touching.

This movie is like finding and enjoying a perfectly ripened piece of fruit, then taking a step forward, slipping on the peel, falling backwards and cracking your head on the pavement! Now what do I mean by that statement?It's very simple to understand - the film starts with Kelly meeting Cal, both are highly spirited and living lives very out of place for their charged up personalities. Kelly is confined by her new role as a mother living in a very American suburban middle class neighborhood after her punk rocker all girl band background. Cal is young, handsome, and full of the capacity to experience the ecstasy of life, but he too is confined in life by his disability, wheelchair, and a bitter outlook toward his future. After they discover each other a glorious friendship develops with some of the finest dialog you can find in a movie. Kelly sees in Cal her youth which she obviously misses. Cal sees in Kelly everything he wants to experience in life but cannot or (more likely) is afraid to do because he fears failure more than his disability. Through Kelly, Cal breaks out of his shell and at the same time Kelly develops an empathy for Cal because he has projected his feelings toward her in sexual advances and his willingness to get back into his artistic abilities. Then reality strikes, and Kelly must step back from this complex and needy friendship. At this point the story starts to fall apart.The movie turns into a ridiculous melodrama of Cal discarding everything Kelly helped him through both psychologically and physically. Kelly goes running after him as if she can save him from himself. Why the writer and director did this I do not understand because they took the relationship of a disabled youth and a frustrated older woman who both found an inner fulfillment in each other that could have been so compelling and bold this movie would have possibly been real box office material. Why not have the suburban housewife have an affair with a disabled youth? Could it possibly be that it was a 'too European' idea?Either way I encourage watching this story because it is good and that good part makes the bad part not so bruising to watch.

Kelly a former punk rocker turned wife and mother is living in the burbs with a hunky husband Josh (Josh Hopkins) in their beautiful home and she is absolutely miserable. The baby cries all the time, she feels that her husband spends way too much time away from home. Josh is always working late. Kelly feels since the birth of their son, that Josh doesn't find her sexy anymore. She misses intimacy with her husband and definitely misses sex. Cal (Jonny Weston) is a teenager who lives down the street from Kelly and Josh. His life was altered after an accident left him with a spinal injury thus putting him into a wheelchair. He is angry and fed up with his circumstances.Kelly meets Cal while she is taking a cigarette break in her yard. Her son can be heard screaming from upstairs as she struggles to light her cigarette and find a moment of peace. Cal is on the other side of the fence and the two strike up a conversation. He notices the baby screaming and after a brief talk leaves at which time Kelly stands up and sees the teenager rolling away in the wheelchair. Later, she shares the moment with her husband and feels remorse at her tone with the handicapped teen.At the suggestion of her husband to get out and walk the baby, Kelly does and once again finds herself seeing Cal. The two become friends. They confide in each other and Cal is a very receptive young guy and he sees things about Kelly that she doesn't and before he can stop it, Cal develops a crush on the older woman. Kelly may be blind to some of her own issues, but she too is tuned in and she zeroes in on Cal and his unfortunate situation. She doesn't treat him or see him as others and being with Cal makes her feel young again. She knows their friendship is odd, but she can't help but want to continue.Juliette Lewis was amazing. Her character is like that of millions of new mothers after the birth of their child feels less desirable and ignored. Kelly was lonely and felt like she was missing out on something. Her mother-in-law Bev (Cybil Shepherd) suggested a night out with her girl-friends. Juliette Lewis gives a fantastic performance as Kelly. She wore her emotions on her face and I kept thinking that Kelly's husband must be plain stupid not to see that she was clearly in distress. It was all over her face and body language. Juliette's character went from melancholia, frustration, happy back to feeling dejected and worthless. Her self esteem was zilch and it showed.Juliette Lewis has come a long way since my seeing her on the television show The Facts of Life. Her performance in Kelly & Cal was award winning. Juliette has been working on a comeback and if this is any indication of what she is capable of showing, I would say she is definitely back! Josh Hopkins was totally convincing with his performance as Josh. He was oblivious to the wants and needs of his wife. He couldn't say or do anything to make her happy. He tried enlisting his mother and sister Julie (Lucy Owen) to help snap his wife out of her depression. In truth, it only made it worse, because Kelly felt on guard and she saw the two women as meddlesome. Things didn't finally dawn on Josh until something happened that threw the situation and Kelly and Cal's friendship in his face. Cybil Shepherd as the concerned mother-in-law was good. She cooked/baked, showered her daughter-in-law with attention and suggestions to help make her see that she was needed to take care of her baby, husband and herself. In one scene Cybil's character arranged for a makeover with a personal shopper who came to Kelly's house. Cybil was ecstatic with the gesture and Juliette Lewis's Kelly was mortified. Funny scene.Lucy Owen owned her role as Julie the nosy/meddlesome/jealous sister- in-law. Whenever she talked to Kelly it was with condescension and her words were laced with jealousy. Julie couldn't understand why Kelly was depressed. She had it all in her assumption and Kelly was seen as being difficult when she should have been happy. Jonny Weston as Cal was perfectly casted. He was charming as well as insanely sarcastic. His character was living from the confines of a wheelchair and he was angry. However, after meeting Kelly, he stopped taking his anti-depressant medication and he was enjoying getting to know her and revisit her heydays of when she was in a band. The boy admired her spirit and over the course of their time spent together, that same free spirit was rubbing off on Cal. Jonny breathed life into the character and to be perfectly honest, I can't imagine watching anyone else doing that. He has a way of drawing the viewer in and holding them in suspension as he tells a story with his acting. Watching Jonny as Cal was like watching him in Chasing Mavericks when he played Jay Moriarity. He is a splendid young actor.A friendship that seems like a good idea at the time leads to some major heartache for both Kelly and Cal and affects Kelly's marriage. Lessons are learned but come with consequences. Kelly & Cal is an awesome movie. I laughed and cheered and wept while watching this film. And if asked, would I recommend it, I would scream...YES!

"Kelly and Cal" is mature-exploration drama with satire comedy and forbidden-and-hidden romance. First question, is this family genre like being noted in many film website? Definitely, not! In first 15 minutes, this film has promising opening, In the middle, when relationship between the older woman (Kelly) and the younger man (Cal) starts weaving, please, It almost disgust me, but thank God, in last 30 minutes it turns out to be it should be. This film has a good and authentic message for you, a new-turned mother, to keep behave. And in this film, it's a real show. But it wouldn't be good if Juliette Lewis and Jonny Weston didn't do their best in this movie.