George
– the main character played by Kevin Kline. He loses his job and finds
out he has terminal cancer…all pretty much in the same day. He decides
to take his son for the summer and build the house he’s wanted to build
for 20 years.
Sam – George’s son played by
Hayden Christensen. He smokes, does drugs and masturbates a lot, he’s
got his chin pierced and multiple earrings in both ears. His black
hair has a bright blue streak and he’s prone to black clothing and
heavy black eye makeup. This is one 16 year old who is not happy with
himself at all and even less thrilled when his “weekends only” father
decides to take him for the summer and wants to build a house together.
Josh – I can’t really call Ian’s
character a “friend” of Sam’s, but they obviously know each other and
Josh wants Sam to “work” for him. Work meaning get into cars with men
who pay for sex with young boys.
Alyssa – played by Jena Malone.
She and her mom live next door to George. Alyssa is supposedly Josh’s
girl at the beginning of the movie, but she and Sam end up together.
Coleen – played by Mary Steenburgen. Alyssa’s mom and George’s next door neighbor. She and George dated after her divorce.
When we first see Josh at the
beginning of the movie, it’s the high school parking lot and he comes
zipping in – in a sharp, little, red Porsche convertible – with a car
load of friends and promptly approaches Sam. He’s totally dressing the
part, too. Wearing a V-necked shirt, silver jewelry and a major
smirk…he’s cocky, arrogant and gorgeous. He asks Sam to consider the
job offer (they’ve obviously had this conversation before) and reminds
him that it’s “2 hours a week, $300 bucks cash, all summer long.” Sam
is not interested.
George and Sam are using the
garage as a living space while they build the new house and there is no
shower, so Alyssa offers the use of theirs. While Sam is
showering…Josh comes in and says “bro, I need you to work for me
tonight.” Sam opens the shower door and wants to know how he got in
since the door was locked. Josh waves a pocket knife in the hand that
isn’t holding a joint. Eventually the lure of pot leads Sam to agree
to work for Josh.
As the shiny red Porsche pulls
into a park filled with parked cars, Josh and Sam are both smoking and
Sam is having second thoughts. Josh gives him a pep talk (things like
“he already knows what you can’t do” and “tell him not to look at you
or something”) and they discuss Alyssa before Josh hands Sam a cell
phone and tells him that if it rings…RUN. He also gives him a rather
large bag of pot to seal the deal. Sam gets out and heads for his
trick, while Josh cranks up the music, kicks back and relaxes with his
weed. He gets too comfortable though, because he doesn’t notice the
cop that pulls up behind him. Josh hits the call button on the phone
and flicks the joint out the passenger window, but it’s too late.
We learn later through Alyssa
that Josh got arrested and his parents took away the car. He now has
to ride his bicycle all summer long. In fact, we see him ride up to
Alyssa’s house – only she’s not home. Her mom invites him to come in
and wait. He’s polite enough on the front porch, but as soon as they
are inside and face to face – he’s just oozing with sexual cockiness
and looking pretty hot in white pants and a tight blue shirt. She
offers him a drink and he asks for a beer (remember, he’s 16 here).
Next time we see them they are slamming away under the covers as he
moans, “Oh, Mrs. Beck!”
We get another close up of them
in bed with Josh on the bottom this time (they are under the covers
though) when the security alarm starts blaring and Alyssa yells,
“Mom?” Ooops…busted. Coleen jumps out of bed naked and starts yelling
at him to get dressed as she grabs her clothes and runs into the
bathroom. We see Josh in his unbuttoned white pants, struggling to get
that tight blue shirt back on (think of those amazing abs). By the
time Alyssa gets to her mother’s room, both Coleen and Josh are in the
bathroom and he is pretending to fix the toilet by plunging it
furiously. Both are flustered, look guilty as hell and we can see the
rumpled, unmade bed in the background. When Alyssa asks what’s going
on, Mom replies, “I put him to work.” [Yeah, right...I'd like to put
him to work!]
The next day Josh is on his bike again, pedaling furiously, wearing the mega-grin of a guy who knows
he’s about to get laid. He stops short of Coleen and Alyssa’s house
and uses his cell phone (by the way, he’s wearing black pants and a red
shirt this time, still looking beyond hot) to call Coleen and let her
know that he doesn’t see Alyssa and to come to the door. Since we’ve
just seen her modeling sexy black underwear in the mirror, it’s no
surprise when she tells him to “just come up”. Honey, that boy is
already up! He’s almost there when Alyssa literally pops up and
surprises the hell out of him. He has to cover quickly and Alyssa ends
up getting him to help out with the work at George’s. He’s not happy
and gazes longingly at Coleen’s front door.
When Alyssa mentions that George
is paying $10 an hour to help out, Sam can’t resist the chance to throw
the “$300 cash for 2 hours” thing back in Josh’s face. He’s not
amused, but can’t get out of helping, either. Not without telling
Alyssa that her mother is waiting for him in bed, anyway.
Josh is helping Sam and Alyssa on
the roof of the house when a cell phone rings. He starts to panic.
Both Josh and the electrician have their phones on the same table, but
Josh’s is red and the electrician’s is black. George is closest to the
table and is asked by the electrician to answer the phone. Josh says
to just let his keep ringing. George doesn’t know which belong to
which, but the red phone is the one ringing. Josh is really panicking
on the roof now and quickly forgetting that he is on a roof!
When Coleen starts talking without waiting to see who’s on the other
end of the phone, he knows he’s in trouble. When she asks “why aren’t
you in my bed, yet” and George figures out it’s Coleen on the phone,
Josh loses it. Yep, he falls. Off the roof and smashes into the
table. Like your typical guy (especially one with sex in the immediate
future), he keeps insisting he’s fine and to help him stand up. We
learn as the ambulance pulls away that he has a broken leg, 2 broken
fingers, a broken rib and a mild concussion.
As the ending credits roll, his
name is there again. It’s the 8th one and I can’t help but smile. It
was a great movie and the best part…this was only the first screening.
I get to see it two more times before I have to make the 4 hour drive
back home.
