It's aight but I don't think I'll ever want to watch it again

source: Straight A's

An otherwise ordinary drama gets spiced with some extra weirdness. Ryan Phillipe seems to be a right fit to play a role of a man, that does not seem to have grown up. That's something playing against the background of a real grown up couple being the ones having real problems and not being able to connect. Sometimes you need a push to get back on track it seems and the movie does show us that side, with some really good actors thrown into the mix. You may not agree with the message or the way it goes to show us what it thinks is right, but the movie is about growing up and facing issues. Not only concerning the kids (really good actors too), but the adults too.

I loved the movie and love the story line. Really surprised with the low ratings. The movie was touching and well put together and the acting was good. I loved the kids and how they played their parts well. Loved all of the characters in the film and the music was fitting and it was touching too. Could have been done better? maybe. Probably with a larger budget it could have been more of a hit but it was a quite touching and not too loud kind of a film. I have seen bad movies win rewards and trophies and get high ratings but honestly this one should have won something because it was touching and worm and spoke of how sometimes death could bring a family together.

"Straight A's" is a wonderful romantic comedy from 2013. It is an excellent product from Millennium and it is currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is James Cox and the writer is Dave Cole for both the screenplay and the original script. The cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Anna Paquin, Luke Wilson, Riley Thomas Stewart, Ursula Parker, Amparo Garcia-Crow, Augustin Solis, Tess Harper, Powers Boothe, Christa Campbell, James Carrol, Josh Meyers, Kristen Williams, Johnnie Brannon, Sporty Cordell, Lance E. Nichols, Holly Gene Dorsett, Odessa Sykes and Leticia Jimenez. The story is of a romantic interlude with a man and his sister in law and it twists round and round from there. I gave this film a score of 8 stars. Dale Haufrect

Family black sheep Scott (Ryan Phillippe) comes home on a horse. His brother William (Luke Wilson) is away on business. His sister in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) was his high school sweetheart. William and Katherine have two kids, but their marriage is a shell. Scott's father (Powers Boothe) is suffering from dementia. There is a little heat coming from Phillippe and Paquin. It's too bad that Wilson is away from home for most of the movie. The small amount of heat is never nurtured to bring on any fire. This movie moves at a snail's pace. Obviously the little boy has problems. Scott is completely inappropriate. It had promise, but no follow through.

"Straight A's" is a simple family drama. The mysterious Uncle Scott (Ryan Phillippe) and his drug use and slacker attitude is a bad influence on the Henderson kids. Uptight Katherine (Anna Paquin) just wants him out of the house and wants her distant husband William (Luke Wilson) back home. The kids are pretty separate from all of this - they have their own story line where Scott shows them that "there's more to life than getting straight A's." "He loves her; she loves his brother" - the tag line from the film's poster suggests that it's a comedy. Because that's just how love triangles usually play out. But here they went for drama. The drama of a marriage in trouble, the drama of strained family relations and the drama of an immature adult teaching life lessons to children. These are three different themes and stories, and the amateur editing didn't do them any favours. The parts don't add up to a greater whole even though they look like they could be fairly compelling. The main problem as others have alluded to is that it just interesting enough. The actors are all good. Ryan Phillippe in particular is channelling a young Brad Pitt with a Texas accent, a swagger and killer looks to support that swagger. Anna Paquin is way more grown up than we've seen her before - mature with a subdued but strong determination. Unfortunately Luke Wilson is left to fend for himself since all his scenes are removed from the Southern family dynamic. The kids are really just used as filler (and for some reason the title as well) probably to help ground the adult drama - to give their relationship dynamics more substance. But I would like to think that if the character of Scott was solidified a bit more he could have done that himself. Scott is a little strange - sees the image of his dead mother, and it's hard to say what his intentions are with Katherine. At least he's sweet and funny when he's with the kids. "Straight A's" has some structure and pacing issues - it moves way too slowly at times. I also think that's what holds the story back. The family definitely has things to say about family dynamics; some of which get dragged out with lack of interest, some of which are a little strange but also a little bit intriguing, and some of which have been told before but there isn't much harm in telling them again. The film is a little too staid to appeal to many people but those who like the Texas/Louisiana culture with some country twang to their family drama should like it a lot.

I really enjoyed this movie and it's unexpected ending. The children were very good and I thought the ending wrapped things up nicely. The acting was very good and it had great music throughout the movie. It had some humor but was quite realistic and not your typical romantic comedy. It's not a thriller or has any heavy plot or message but an enjoyable movie to watch. Ryan Phillippe's character was endearing to a point and Anna Paquins portrayal of the uptight Katherine was spot-on and I always love Powers Booth. Great job by the entire cast. The sets, locations and wardrobes all complimented the movie. I would recommend it .

that kind of movies who rolls questions. beautiful cast. nice story. and same charm of Ryan Philippe, delicate manner to do her role by Anna Paquin and Luke Wilson with personal art to build a reasonable character. it is not an impressive film. only necessary. because it represents one of soups for soul. few drops of magic, an original character, crumbs of love and a sacrifice - the Aztecs are not only detail - as price for happiness. and, sure, adorable children. short, nothing original. only delicate scent from a slice of life. naive but realistic in few lines, it is only fly of a sparrow. or, only, its shadow. a little story about profound things. a lesson. almost pink but far to be boring.

You will not really get the whole story of this film by its title, nor by the poster. It was good that I saw this film without any idea what this was all about, not even what genre it was. I thought it was a romantic comedy. It was not exactly one. Once the film started, I thought I would not like it. But as it went along, I was pulled in, all the way to its end. This is one good little film that deserves more attention. Put simply, the story of "Straight As" is about how the lives of the Henderson family was affected when long-estranged Scott (Ryan Philippe) makes a surprise return, supposedly because their late mother had convinced him to. His sister-in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) is flustered by Scott's unwelcome visit right when his brother William (Luke Wilson) was out of town on business. But it was with his nephew Charles and niece Gracie that Scott made his biggest connections. However, with his foul language, cigarettes and drugs, will Scott ever be welcomed back by the family he left more than ten years ago? The actors of this film worked very well. I loved that the acting in this film is very understated and restrained There were no big hyper- dramatic scenes as family melodrama are mostly prone to having. I have not seen Ryan Philippe act in a lead role for a long time. His career had never really recovered since he and Reese Witherspoon broke up. He was outside his usual zone playing the black sheep of the family. I believed he played the multiple levels of his complex character very well. I had not seen Anna Paquin act in a straight dramatic role ever since she won the Oscar as a precocious child in "The Piano"! It was a welcome break from notable recent roles with supernatural powers. I liked her subtle attack on a role which could have been a showcase of histrionics in a lesser actress. Luke Wilson's role was rather right up his old alley, but it was good to see him in a dramatic role. The actors who played the two kids, Riley Thomas Stewart and Ursula Parker, were both very cute, natural and moving. Powers Boothe, who played the Henderson patriarch, also had his shining moments. I liked how the whole story unfolded. Yes, the story elements were all soap opera staples, but they way they were woven together by director James Cox was interesting and involving. The musical score and the songs were all very emotionally apt to the scenes they accompanied. The cinematographer liked to play with lights and glare, which were good. As a whole, the unheralded film was a pleasant surprise which more people should know about. 7/10.