SnoopyStyle
Sweetness O'Hara (Zoë Kravitz) has a dysfunctional family in a rough neighborhood. Her black mother is a mess and her white father is a violent drunk mess. She's a good girl getting picked on. Her older sister can't protect her anymore. Her only option is to turn bad to survive. Eventually she can't stand the pressure and helps selling drugs. This gives her the cred which she uses to turn her fortunes around.The movie starts great with Gabourey Sidibe's group picking on Zoë Kravitz. Zoë is outstanding. It has a real energy about it. I do have some confusion with some of the characters. Some things seem to be introduced out of nowhere. Maybe it's the editing or maybe it's the writing. Sometimes I'm just not 100% sure about. Nevertheless, it's great overall.
starrfish69
First, I'm going to put out there for no particular reason that this is my first IMDb review and unfortunately, my first review won't be positive. I'm not going to sugar-coat any of this but unless you want to waste or otherwise throw away 96 minutes of your life, do not watch this film. The main thing I'm upset about is that I actually PAID to see this movie (I saw this on YouTube) and ended up being disappointed and was not a very happy customer at all.I mean, I DESPERATELY wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the SXSW trailer on YouTube a couple of years ago, so you can tell how really mad i am. Seriously? I had to force myself to watch it all the way through and not to fall asleep though it because again, I PAID for this movie with my own money!The movie is boring, it's hard to follow the story of the film. I mean, you already know the plot as it's all over the internet that it's about this teenage biracial girl trying to survive in her crime-infested inner-city neighborhood by partnering up with her Black boyfriend by selling drugs and doing crime. But that's all you can really get out of the movie, really.The plot points of this film did not (I'll repeat) DID NOT make sense at all. First, why is Roland buying food for Ola and Sweetness?There was also a scene where Sweetness is having sex with some guy in Ola's car. Afterwards, we don't see how but somehow or another the car just... crashes! Her sister, Ola, is understandably mad about Sweetness (Ola blamed Sweetness anyway) ruining a car that took her two years to buy but from what we'll see throughout the rest of the film, Ola is being all playful and friendly with her sister and seems to be all friendly to Sweetness after the car wreck. I mean, not promoting resentment or ill will but Ola should at least make her pay to get the car fixed or a new one. And why did those thugs shoot Roland to death? Did a drug deal he was involved in go wrong?I mean, I would have to go back and watch the movie AGAIN to cover EVERYTHING that went wrong, but I won't even bother.If there's anything POSITIVE I have to say about this movie, it's that the acting is ON POINT, especially from Zoe Kravitz, who portrays Sweetness O'Hara, the lead role. Antonique Smith is not a bad looking girl herself! As a fan of Gabourey Sidibe, I appreciate her appearance in this movie but it was much too short.I did like the scene in the movie where after Latonya's girls (Latonya is Gabourey Sidibe's character) turn against her to be Sweetness' friends, Sweetness beats up Latonya in the middle of the school hallway and even that scene was unbelievable. I mean, look at Latonya and look at Sweetness... REALISTICALLY Latonya could've VERY EASILY landed Sweetness in a hospital somewhere for obvious reasons, and later on in the movie Sweetness is all "Oh, I'm sorry, Latonya! It was wrong!"Uh, Sweetness! Are you actually doing those drugs you were selling, of course it was wrong but you were getting your revenge! You took her friends from her and beat the mess out of her AFTER all the horrible things you've done to her! Why are you apologizing to her?Now the ending, don't even get me started on the ending. Toward the ending the father follows Sweetness home from school every day because he wants to be back in her life and be a better father. That sure ain't the way. The movie ends with Sweetness crying in her father's arms... for no particular reason (please do correct me if I'm wrong). Wow... just wow...This movie wouldn't be have as bad if it had better story-flow, give Gabourey Sidibe more screen time and the film a better ending.I'm gonna give the movie a 3 because of the acting and that it made me a fan of Kravitz, Smith. And I'm already a Sidibe fan but I'm actually being far too nice. I should actually give it a "1" even with the good acting.Bottom line: Would I recommend this movie to others? Absolutely not. Thanks for reading my review but now you can do yourself the favor of saving your money and 96 minutes of your life. I'm sure Mahoney can step up her writing in her future films.
chulacita
This movie portrayed a clean version of trying to stay sane in the hood and learning to live with an alcoholic father. Through Hollywood there are many movies you may see that glamorize hood life, but so many few can capture the coexistence and survival of the family part of it like this movie has. The optimistic ending gives me hope for the character portrayed in this movie that she can and will live a very productive life despite the dysfunctional family setting. All too often a dysfunctional lifestyle mixed with drug use and alcohol is a death sentence, however this movie shows that it's never too late to change and turn yourself around inspite of your surroundings and upbringing. This movie gives me Hope and related to me so much in my real life that it's almost scary. Thanks for allowing me to post this and I hope I didn't spoil it for you. You just gotta see it to understand what I'm saying... Enjoy!
taylors9
I saw a screening of this film at the Mixed Roots Festival in Los Angeles, June 11, 2011. It is an excellent film. It is very well written, with prominent actors. I found the story entirely believable, and was moved to see the lead characters portrayed as capable of transformation and growth. Both Jason Clarke and Zoe Kravitz were superb in their roles as father and daughter torn between love and anger, and all actors carried their roles with great skill and realism. I have never submitted a film review before, but we were asked to review Yelling to the Sky in the hope that it will advance to the general theater circuit; therefore I am sending my thoughts and my vote.
