Bravetown

Look, let me preface this review by saying that sometimes there are movies you know aren't very good, but you still like them anyway. Such is the case with "Bravetown," the new drama by first-time director Daniel Duran. This film is a hodgepodge of different ideas that seem like a bunch of different movies all rolled into one pretty package. It almost works, too, though in the end it doesn't quite get the bow right.

The story by Oscar Orlando Torres ("Instructions Not Included") concerns Josh Harvest (Lucas Till -- Havok in the last two "X-Men" films) who lives in New York and is a popular underground DJ even though he's still in high school. With a disaffected mother (Maria Bello) he fends for himself and self-medicates. That self-medication turns into an overdose, and as a result he is sent to live with the father who abandoned him before birth. (An odd choice, as his absence is what caused mom's mental decline.) So off to the Midwest he goes, to a town where all the boys go off to war and many don't return. It's a broken town with broken people -- the best place for a broken kid to go, right?

He's befriended by a younger kid named Tony (Jae Head), who comes across like his sister's pimp. His sister Mary (SYTYCD's Kherrington Payne) is the head of the dance team that, according to even her brother, is "not very good." But what do you know? By getting a little remix by Josh, the team's dancing improves, and suddenly they are winning competitions. So, you know, this is a dance movie.

Not quite. Josh also has to go to court-appointed therapy with Alex (Josh Duhamel), an army veteran whose best friend was killed in the war. Knowing he won't immediately get through to an apathetic Josh, he allows their sessions to consist of watching soccer and eating pizza. Until, you know, Josh starts to open up "naturally."

But wait. There's also Mary's mother Annie (the always lovely Laura Dern), who is so depressed at the loss of her eldest son to the war that she is on a variety of pills and frequently talks about him like he's still alive. Mary and Tony can't handle this, and wish mom would move on so she would pay attention to them.

There's also the issue of Josh and his dad (Tom Everett Scott). They barely speak.

And this is the problem with the film. There are so many plots and stories, you aren't quite sure what the movie is even about. Is it about Josh trying to get over the fact that his parents both abandoned him in different ways? Is it about a town that can't get over the devastation the war has had on their community? Is it about Alex getting forgiven for not protecting his best friend? Is it about a dance team learning to "take it to the next level?" Is it about Josh opening himself up to love?

It's about all of these things, and despite being about too much (it actually would have made a great TV show), it oddly all comes together in the end. Sure, Josh's relationship with his father is never fully tied up, and we never see his mother again, but something about this odd structure makes the film compelling. It helps that newbie director Duran shoots his film in the style of "Friday Night Lights," with a lot of handheld cameras and a naturalistic acting style.

The film is also beautiful. It's a shame the story itself wasn't streamlined a bit more, but there was something about each story that I found interesting. No new ground was broken, but when you have actors like Duhamal and Dern filling out roles that could have been one-note, that's a big help. Till is an attractive lead, but his character does spend a lot of time moping around and getting beaten up. (A completely wasted plot involves a group of guys who don't like him because Mary is clearly interested in him.) But he does start to soften, which is a nice arc to see.

This isn't an award-winning film, and it has its problems. But at the same time, when the final scenes were playing, I found myself teary-eyed and hopeful for these characters to make it through. Despite its missteps, "Bravetown" is a nice place to visit, even if there's too much going on in town.