As another reviewer points out, a big negative here is the insistent and excessive use of voice-over. Do we really need to hear AJ's thoughts? Why make a film if you have no confidence that the audience will be able to work things out for themselves?
But if you can get past hearing what AJ is thinking, this is a reasonably entertaining and gentle look at adolescence. (Of course, if you've been through adolescence yourself, much of this will feel familiar and not revelatory.)
I don't think this is so much like Gregory's Girl (1980) as it is Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990). Though it's possible it's just the family setting and the accent of some of the characters that remind me of the latter?
But if you can get past hearing what AJ is thinking, this is a reasonably entertaining and gentle look at adolescence. (Of course, if you've been through adolescence yourself, much of this will feel familiar and not revelatory.)
I don't think this is so much like Gregory's Girl (1980) as it is Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990). Though it's possible it's just the family setting and the accent of some of the characters that remind me of the latter?