I can't believe that all the reviewers thought this was a fine film, or even an average one. There were so many problems with this, I don't know where to begin. But here goes: The acting was mostly awful, as was the script. Only the two brothers, the girl friend, and the drunken abusive stepfather were credible. The rest were total caricatures, so dumb for the most part that I couldn't imagine the sensitive lead boy would want anything to do with the two dumb friends, or any of the other adults in the story. Like one reviewer stated, the mother started out seeming reasonably intelligent, and then picks out the biggest jerk in history to fall for and marry. I know this can happen, but it seemed so phony the way it was presented. The religious fanatic mother of his love interest was so over the top that it made "Carrie's" mother look normal. Since it was apparently based loosely on a true story, more liberties taken might have helped, as there was the basics for a good story here. But there was almost nothing good happening through the whole film, and except for a clever twist just before the end, even the ending was barely upbeat. There were many lapses in continuity too, with characters in fights looking like nothing happened to them in the next scene. Sloppy direction. Had the ending been that the two brothers and the girl go off to Los Angeles together, at least I would have felt more optimistic. Where was the little bro going to live in Detroit? With who? Everyone he was close to was dead or staying behind. I don't need a Hollywood ending if the film had some point to make other than follow your dream. I really wanted to like this film, and the elements were there for a great story, but for me, this film failed miserably. I gave it 2 stars rather than 1, because of the two brothers and the girlfriend, and a potentially good story.
Review of Lightning Bug
