Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Ross622 D.J. Caruso's Standing Up was a movie I thought was going to be horrible from the very beginning. It takes place at night one mile off of a campsite where a girl named Grace (played by Annalise Basso) and a boy named Howie (played by chandler Canterbury) get forced to be naked by a few camp mates who actually took their clothes off ( perfect for a bad beginning) and go inside to a sort of abandoned building in order to seek shelter and are on a worthless survival adventure when Grace's mom (played by Radha Mitchell) is on a wild goose chase just trying to find her daughter and her fellow companion. Everything about this movie is totally stupid, The performances are weak, the dialogue is unnecessary as well as unintentionally hilarious in one scene, the screenplay tries so hard to demonstrate itself when it acts as if it can't and it is too lazy to do so, the directing is floppy, and the one person who gives the stupidest performance throughout the entire movie was unfortunately Val Kilmer who just played a drunken cop in which the 2 stranded nerds thought was going to bring them to the worried mother, but then refers to the goat smell in the back of his SUV, and stops at his house by the excuse of that he id going to get something when he is really calling his boss to get them reported. As Elizabeth Taylor said in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? "It's a flop, a great big flop" which is exactly what this film really was.

Amari-Sali For whatever reason, stories like this, Bridge to Terabithia, Little Manhattan and etc., I just find so cute. Mostly because it is so rare they are made, since really who wants to watch two unknown kids deal with bullying and running away, but at the same time a lot of good actors start off as kids. And to me, both Chandler Canterbury and Annalise Basso give the type of performance where you can see that, with the right agent, they both could have fruitful careers in the entertainment business.Characters & StoryThe story of Standing Up deals with two outcasts. One being Howie (played by Chandler Canterbury) and the other Grace (played by Annalise Basso). Both are going to this camp which has a tradition of hazing in which a "goat" is left on this island a mile away from camp and stripped naked. But, the two goats this year, Grace and Howie, don't stick around for the ridicule. Howie, being resourceful, and a bit of a kleptomaniac, guides them on a 2-3 day journey in which as their bond grows stronger, so do they.PraiseDespite the whole bullying thing being what is talked about when it comes to this movie, thankfully it isn't really the main focus. If anything, Standing Up reminds you that as much as bullying is a problem amongst peers, part of the issue isn't just the bully that is the child's age, but parents which are the bullies as well. However, though the topic of bullying is a part of the film, the real focus is the journey Grace and Howie have in which both Basso and Canterbury really display a good emotional complexity which is often absent in adolescent characters.The reason I say this is because though children are often apart of stories in which dramatic, or rather traumatic, things happen, they are usually place in a supporting role so while their feelings are present, they often are secondary. With Standing Up though, you can see these two young people portray the trauma of being ostracized, the awkwardness of receiving kindness from a stranger, and even watching them become interdependent is strange, but at the same time entertaining. Basso, for instance, grows as a character from this sniveling little mouse into a girl who seems to have learn what confidence is, and though Howie surely helped, at the same time you can't say what she learns is fully based on her mimicking him. As for Canterbury, quite honestly, I think he could easily follow in Josh Hutcherson's shoes and maybe have a career like him, or maybe even better. And I say that because he shows the same type of emotional depth Hutcherson did in the movies mentioned above in which a boy is allowed to show his emotions, cry about his situation, and find this weird sort of way to show that despite how often we undermine kids, that they can easily feel like they have as much on their plate as people older than them.CriticismWhen it comes to critiquing this film, I must admit I did find it weird how the kids survived for the days they ran away. I mean, the adults seem pretty oblivious. Between them sneaking into a summer camp and them getting a motel room for the night, I'm not sure if you have to stretch your disbelief or if someone could really do this, and it is just I haven't heard of such a tale yet. Outside of that though, really there are no major issues.Overall: Rental/VODIt is rare for movies like this to be made when kids aren't trying to be cute or are made to be comical, and seemingly just like when popular comedians get to do dramatic roles, certain kids in dramatic roles just flourish. And lest we forget, be it Natalie Portman, Christina Ricci, and those of a younger generation like Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb, movies like this one are what help people discover great actors. And that is why I say this is worth renting or seeing on Video on Demand. For though you may not watch an award worthy performance, you certainly can see potential in the two leads and who doesn't want to see talent at a starting stage and watch it grow?

Reno Rangan I was just stunned, totally speechless. How come this movie is not so popular is a million dollar question asked myself. This movie must reach everyone especially the family audience and the kids. A best children's movie I have seen after a long time, maybe after 'Bridge to Terabithia' and 'A Little Princess'. I mean I liked many others between these movies but this one gave me kinda rare experience to feel the depth of the problem that faced by the tween kids. Yeah the movie talks mainly about the physically weak kids who are easy targets to bully. From their perspective 'Standing Up' tells the victims self discovery.If there is an award for children's movies in Oscar similar to animation movies and foreign movies, I would give to this one without thinking twice. This movie is not only a simple movie but a fine message deliverer like the rare movie like 'October Baby' etc. These kinda movies require more recognition, sadly fails to do as commercially. But if you get a chance to see don't miss it and recommend to others as well.'Standing Up' was based on the young adult novel called 'Goat Island'. It centers around two characters Howie and Grace who are the victims in their summer camp prank. These two are stripped naked and left alone in an island by their mates. Instead returning back to the camp in the morning they run away in order to avoid the humiliation. During their journey to nowhere they successfully achieve that what have to be done to survive. They find the strength in their unity and also the self discovery. The journey that changed their lives forever.Both the lead kids were supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I felt they already gave their career best performances in their early age. Excellent direction from the director of 'Eagle Eye'. I don't know what others say but I consider it is his best movie so far from his filmography. The background score was very catchy and melodic, perfectly fitted with the presentation. The second half was emotionally appealed a lot and music was one of the reasons for that. There was a scene I liked the most in the movie where Grace phones her mother and her mother says something about Howie. On that particular scene she turns towards Howie, wow, that was the amazing one, emotionally touching. There are only a few movies in the world that makes us to have more and more and never want to end. Yeah this movie did that to me. 'Standing Up' is rare and must see movie, hope y'all won't miss after reading my review. An highly recommended by my side.9.5/10

OliverGbyrne It's a difficult task to make a film about bullying , especially in today's world , with news on the TV of children who takes their own life after having being bullied.Bullying is , unfortunately , still very much relevant , perhaps more now then ever before.Twitter,Facebooks and the likes are new weapons used by bullies everyday. DJ Carusco tackles this difficult subject in a very subtle and intelligent way. Instead of concentrating on the pain that bullying cause , his film is more about overcoming bullying. The story is simple and to some similar to "Moonrise Kingdom" (Although I do find the comparison out of context). In the 80's (Although the film could have taken place any time , the director wisely decided not to overly use the 80's setting to avoid distracting audiences from the story itself) two kids at a camp , a boy and a girl who do not know each other , are victim of a vicious pranks by their fellow campers.They are stripped away of all their clothes and are left in the middle of an Island.The two kids eventually bond and decide to not stay for when the other campers come back to make fun of them or even worse take pictures of them as a "Trophy" , instead they run away and that is where the film and their adventures really begins. This film really feels like a journey , you see the kids slowly building confidence after each stop they take before getting back home , although at that point they are note sure what "home" will be. The two leads , Analise Basso and Chandler Canterbury (Who was also in the very good "A bag of hammers") are pitch perfect as Grace and Howie.They deliver a very true performance , they are absolutely believable , you absolutely believe this is happening to them.The dialogs also help a great deal , the kids speaks like normal kids , they don't have cheesy lines. I will spare you too much details because I do not want to risk spoiling the film for you but I must say , I rarely get teary eyed watching films but the last scene of "standing up" was an exception thanks to Analise Basso , this girl has a bright future ahead of her. I know this film was based on a very popular children book but I was not aware of this book so I cant really say how the film stand up when compared to the book. All I can say is that on it's own merit , this is a very heartfelt , sensitive , well executed , hopeful film and I urge parents to watch it with their kids or teachers to show it to their pupils because it might gives bullies a taste of what it is like on the other side of the spectrum. I am very sensitive to the subject of bullying and I feel this film , beside being really well made , is important.For theses reasons I give it a 9 out of 10 stars.