It was fantastic! [Spoilers included].

I think what I most enjoyed was the way it chronicled adolescence in a realistic, but endearing way. We see that kids are cruel. Henry seems to take sadistic pleasure in bullying Ben and the other losers. Although some of his antics are exaggerated, I suspect there is a kid like him in every middle school. Somehow, too, the movie manages to portray him in a sympathetic light as well when it shows his father mistreating him. Like a lot of bullies, his actions are driven in part by his own feelings of inadequacy.

Even the losers can be mean to each other and they devolve into fighting at one point. Kids can be fickle and impulsive (not that any parent needed to be reminded I’m sure).

Perhaps the most heartwarming part is the way the losers are comfortable in their own skin. They know they will never be the popular kids. They know they will never be the coolest. But there is an obvious comfort they feel in their own skin which most adolescents could learn from. Ben likes being in the library and doesn’t see a need to hide it.

The movie seemed relatively lighthearted for a horror movie even though it explored some heavy themes. That’s probably because the verbal jousting among the losers frequently left me laughing.

It gets two thumbs up from me. If you haven’t already, you should see it.