I had high hopes for this film, but to say we were diappointed is an understatement. First off, it is shot in black and white, for no good reason that I can see. Secondly, there is a persistent musical background soundtrack that makes it difficult to hear the dialogue. Then we come to the subject matter. The film is about Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) agreeing to look after his young nephew Jesse for an indefinite period. Johnny really has no idea how to cope with the irritating, disobedient, spoilt brat that is Jesse. He ends up indulging just about every demand that Jesse makes. The most embarassing moment is when Johnny makes a laborious apology to Jesse for getting angry when Jesse runs away and disappears in the middle of New York. I can not recommend this film.
Subtitles need to be switched on in order to receive all the dialogue. The story illustrates how children bring out in adults sometimes deeply buried emotions from their own childhoods. It also illustrates the kind of imbalance when a child has little or nothing in the way of boundaries. Not for the faint hearted ....