The best made-for-TV movie I’ve seen is Lonesome Dove. The second best I watched last night. It’s called Bang Bang You’re Dead. It’s a movie that has some clichés and a bit of unimpressive acting, but none of that seems to matter in the face of the movie’s heart. I went to bed thinking about the movie, I dreamt about the movie, and I woke up thinking about the movie. That’s quite an accomplishment since most movies don’t cause more thought than trying to remember when the late fees start.

Bang Bang You’re Dead takes us into the world and mind of a teenager who is on the brink. What he’s on the brink of and what he’s actually capable of we aren’t sure. We only know that it won’t be anything good. Luckily he has two people who care about him, a teacher and a girl.

It sounds like your typical Sunday-night-movie cliché-fest. The clichés do show up, just thankfully, not in the wrong places. They actually don’t show up anywhere but in places where I felt it helped the movie. We have the parents who treat their boy like crap because he’s not living up to their standards. Those sinister jocks show up acting cool and tough. And, there’s the nerdy kid who get locked in his locker.

But, all of this seems to work for me, because our main character, Trevor Adams, is not a cliché. Trevor is the troubled teen. How do troubled teens see their parents? How do they see their teachers, and the kids making fun of them? They definitely don’t see them as “complex humans grappling with how to balance out their life’s awkward situations”. If they did, there wouldn’t be so much misunderstanding. There would be much more communication and forgiveness going on. Now, I’m not a psychology major, but kids with issues like this tend to view their “problem people” as pretty one dimensional, which is how they’re portrayed in the movie. That’s why some of the clichés in the movie are not an issue for me. They help create an atmosphere in which I can better understand Trevor’s world.

However, there aren’t just negative aspects to Trevor’s life. There are some positive influences as well, and these characters are much more interesting (perhaps, because Trevor is also more interested in them?). We have a teacher who really cares about him, but struggles with how much of a friend he should be. There’s a girl he meets who reaches out to him. (Don’t worry, the movie-makers were kind enough to keep the trite romance out, which would have really hurt the power of the movie.) We don’t get to know her as well as Trevor, but she’s almost of symbol of what Trevor could be if he followed the positive road instead of the negative one. They have quite similar dispositions.

With that backdrop of influence surrounding Trevor we watch his struggle between right and wrong through his school year. We watch him cope positively in some situations and then we’re devastated when he slips back towards violence. There are some moments that are very disturbing because we all know how real suicide and school violence is. There are also some extremely poignant moments, especially one where we finally get to see how much trauma is racing around in the mind of Trevor.

It all adds up to a movie that should be required viewing for anyone who works with or has a teenager. Why? Because we forget. We forget how much things used to hurt. We forget how no one could relate and how no one seemed to care. This movie reminds us what that’s like. If we’re smart the reminder won’t just be regarding youth; it will remind us that people of all ages are like that. We just get better at hiding things with years of practice. This movie was a great reminder of that for me.

Like I said, the movie has a good heart. It causes you to look over its weaknesses and cheer for its message. I highly recommend this one, not for a nice refreshing break from reality; but, instead, for an hour-and-a-half glimpse into the reality we’re living in.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older