Crush on teacher makes for scalding coming-of-age film
Published: February 8, 2006
Katherine Monk, CanWest News Service
Veteran screenwriter, author and film prof Amnon Buchbinder makes a solid debut as feature director in this heartfelt, yet simultaneously scalding, coming of age story about a home-schooled kid who develops a troublesome crush on his teacher.
Co-written by noted playwright Daniel MacIvor, who also appears in the central role of the emancipated English teacher Mr. Grant, A Whole New Thing would seem to be the kind of Canadian movie that goes out of its merry way to push buttons - just for the sake of throwing the viewer off guard.
Yet, considering the potentially incendiary subject matter, A Whole New Thing finds a quiet charm and absolute sense of decorum because the whole story moves forward through believable and, fortunately, responsible characters.
At the centre of it all is Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber), a 13-year-old boy who's been homeschooled by his hippie parents (Robert Joy, Rebecca Jenkins). Equal parts precocious pubescent and sarcastic troublemaker, Emerson is just beginning to discover sexual function, but seems entirely disinterested in the whole process.
Emerson is a closet romantic. He's interested in finding a mental union - a meeting of the minds that will raise him to a whole new plane of experience - but no one in his rather cloistered social set fits the bill.
The main problem is Emerson's social group consists largely of adults, not peers, because he's never been forced to function in public school. Yet when poor math scores push him into the scuffed hallways and claustrophobic classrooms of a regular stream school, Emerson soon learns the rough and tumble world of jocks, cool kids and freaks.
Emerson is quickly lumped into the outsider category by the resident bullies, but seems entirely ambivalent about his `loser' status because he's had his first class with Mr. Grant and challenges him right off the bat with a literate and astute comment.
The intellectual threat is good for Mr. Grant, who's been stagnating in the same job for years, repeating the same curriculum over and over again without any joy. Grant's problems go deeper than his job. He's also stagnating personally. Without a meaningful relationship in his life, Mr. Grant finds himself frequenting the local highway rest stop looking for casual homoerotic encounters.
Buchbinder proves he's got some brass by bringing a lonely gay teacher and a pubescent boy of questionable sexuality together for dramatic purpose, but anyone looking to malign the film based solely on its central relationship would be leaping to some very wrong, very unfair and altogether sleazy conclusions. Grant and Emerson form a bond based on their mutual unhappiness and existential longing for something more. Sexuality may seem to be an issue, but that's the beauty of Buchbinder and MacIvor's script: It accesses Emerson's outsiderism through several different directions, giving us a whole new way to experience coming-of-age anxiety. We feel it through Emerson's parents and their inability to approach their son without rousing his anger. We see it through Mr. Grant's self-denial, and the idea that he never found the courage that Emerson has already. We also see it through Emerson himself, who may not be the most empathetic screen hero - in fact, he's often just irritating and unpleasant - but proves to be entirely believable in the role of scowling teen.
Credit to Jenkins and Joy in the role of Emerson's loving but boundary-free parents. Joy has the lopsided demeanour of a deaf dog; constantly looking at Emerson for some clue, some explanation for his detached behaviour without ever really getting the big picture and his own role in it. Jenkins plays it the other way, as the loving and concerned parent who tries to let her kid find his own strength without being patronizing. She proves to be the film's access point, because we can identify and empathize with her struggle - as well as her response.
Together with Webber, Joy and MacIvor, the ensemble pulls the story's many threads through the narrative loom to create a warm and folksy - yet altogether odd and somewhat unsettling - dramatic tapestry.
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Published: February 8, 2006
Katherine Monk, CanWest News Service
Veteran screenwriter, author and film prof Amnon Buchbinder makes a solid debut as feature director in this heartfelt, yet simultaneously scalding, coming of age story about a home-schooled kid who develops a troublesome crush on his teacher.
Co-written by noted playwright Daniel MacIvor, who also appears in the central role of the emancipated English teacher Mr. Grant, A Whole New Thing would seem to be the kind of Canadian movie that goes out of its merry way to push buttons - just for the sake of throwing the viewer off guard.
Yet, considering the potentially incendiary subject matter, A Whole New Thing finds a quiet charm and absolute sense of decorum because the whole story moves forward through believable and, fortunately, responsible characters.
At the centre of it all is Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber), a 13-year-old boy who's been homeschooled by his hippie parents (Robert Joy, Rebecca Jenkins). Equal parts precocious pubescent and sarcastic troublemaker, Emerson is just beginning to discover sexual function, but seems entirely disinterested in the whole process.
Emerson is a closet romantic. He's interested in finding a mental union - a meeting of the minds that will raise him to a whole new plane of experience - but no one in his rather cloistered social set fits the bill.
The main problem is Emerson's social group consists largely of adults, not peers, because he's never been forced to function in public school. Yet when poor math scores push him into the scuffed hallways and claustrophobic classrooms of a regular stream school, Emerson soon learns the rough and tumble world of jocks, cool kids and freaks.
Emerson is quickly lumped into the outsider category by the resident bullies, but seems entirely ambivalent about his `loser' status because he's had his first class with Mr. Grant and challenges him right off the bat with a literate and astute comment.
The intellectual threat is good for Mr. Grant, who's been stagnating in the same job for years, repeating the same curriculum over and over again without any joy. Grant's problems go deeper than his job. He's also stagnating personally. Without a meaningful relationship in his life, Mr. Grant finds himself frequenting the local highway rest stop looking for casual homoerotic encounters.
Buchbinder proves he's got some brass by bringing a lonely gay teacher and a pubescent boy of questionable sexuality together for dramatic purpose, but anyone looking to malign the film based solely on its central relationship would be leaping to some very wrong, very unfair and altogether sleazy conclusions. Grant and Emerson form a bond based on their mutual unhappiness and existential longing for something more. Sexuality may seem to be an issue, but that's the beauty of Buchbinder and MacIvor's script: It accesses Emerson's outsiderism through several different directions, giving us a whole new way to experience coming-of-age anxiety. We feel it through Emerson's parents and their inability to approach their son without rousing his anger. We see it through Mr. Grant's self-denial, and the idea that he never found the courage that Emerson has already. We also see it through Emerson himself, who may not be the most empathetic screen hero - in fact, he's often just irritating and unpleasant - but proves to be entirely believable in the role of scowling teen.
Credit to Jenkins and Joy in the role of Emerson's loving but boundary-free parents. Joy has the lopsided demeanour of a deaf dog; constantly looking at Emerson for some clue, some explanation for his detached behaviour without ever really getting the big picture and his own role in it. Jenkins plays it the other way, as the loving and concerned parent who tries to let her kid find his own strength without being patronizing. She proves to be the film's access point, because we can identify and empathize with her struggle - as well as her response.
Together with Webber, Joy and MacIvor, the ensemble pulls the story's many threads through the narrative loom to create a warm and folksy - yet altogether odd and somewhat unsettling - dramatic tapestry.
Back to articles