Jamesy Boy

True second-chance story doesn't come to life onscreen.

A film with a message of inspiration, to be sure, but not much in terms of innovation.

For such a seriously street film, Jamesy Boy has some surprisingly sappy moments. But the redemptive ending, while thin, is genuinely gratifying.

The screenplay by Lane Shadgett and director Trevor White relies far too much on telling rather than showing.

White's decision to shackle his film to a redemptive arc ends up making Burns's story an argument for juvenile imprisonment.

The movie adds up to little more than an interminable bildungsroman, sunk early and often by the desperately miscast Spencer Lofranco.

Tackled with a sense of thoughtfulness and compassion that makes the would-be garden-variety narrative worthwhile.

The protagonist seems more sociopathic than sympathetic, and the film takes such a distorted view of the responsibility of role models and artistic expression in shaping troubled youth.

It's ultimately little more than the story of a hot-tempered young man who made a lot of bad choices, didn't like where they got him, and finally started making some better ones. While that's admirable, it isn't inherently compelling.

With Jamesy Boy on their IMDb filmographies, both White and Lofranco are ones to watch.